France has recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic and COVID-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month, as the fast-spreading omicron variant complicates the French government’s efforts to stave off a new lockdown.
More than 1 in 100 people in the Paris region have tested positive in the past week, according to the regional health service.
Most new infections are linked to the omicron variant, which government experts predict will be dominant in France in the coming days. Omicron is already dominant in Britain, right across the Channel.
A medical staff prepares nasal swaps to test a woman with her children at a testing site on the Christmas Eve in La Celle-Saint-Cloud, west of Paris, Friday, Dec. 24, 2021. President Emmanuel Macron released a selfie-style TikTok video on Thursday calling on young people to get themselves tested before joining family members for the holidays.
(AP Photo/Michel Euler)
FRANCE SEEKS TO AVOID LOCKDOWN WITH STRICTER VACCINE RULES
Meanwhile a surge in delta variant infections in recent months is pushing up hospital admissions in France, and put ICUs under strain again over the Christmas holidays. More than 1,000 people in France with the virus died over the past week, bringing the country’s overall death toll to more than 122,000.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government is holding emergency meetings Monday to discuss the next steps in tackling the virus. Some scientists and educators have urged delaying the post-holiday return to school, or suggested re-imposing a curfew.
A man holds a sign which reads ‘I don’t drink Gluhwein’ as he protests with other artists during a demonstration in Brussels on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021. Belgian performers, cinema operators, event organizers and others joined together Sunday to protest the government’s decision to close down the country’s cultural life to stem the spread of the surging omicron virus variant. Gluhwein refers to a common drink which is served at Christmas markets.
(AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
FRANCE RESTRICTS TRAVEL FROM BRITAIN TO FIGHT OMICRON
But France’s education minister says schools should open as usual on Jan. 3, and other government officials are working to avoid measures that would hammer the country’s economic recovery.
Instead the French government is hoping that stepped-up vaccinations will be enough. The government is pushing a draft law that would require vaccination to enter all restaurants and many public venues, instead of the current health pass system which allows people to produce a negative test or proof of recovery if they’re not vaccinated.
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In neighboring Belgium, the government imposed new measures starting Sunday that ordered cultural venues like movie theaters and concert halls to close.
Some venues defied the ban, and thousands of performers, event organizers and others demonstrated Sunday in Brussels against the decision, carrying signs reading “The Show Must Go On” or “No Culture No Future.” They accuse the Belgian government of double standards because it allowed Christmas markets, with their boisterous crowds and mulled wine drinking, to stay open, along with restaurants and bars.
