Proof That Omicron Is Indeed Contagious, France Has Just Made A Daily Record Of Almost 370.000 COVID-19 Cases

Photo by Jordan Bracco on Unsplash

JAKARTA - France has just reported 368.149 cases of the new coronavirus. And this is the highest daily number of cases in the data collection during the pandemic in the country.

The previous highest number of daily COVID-19 cases reached 332.252, which was set on January 5.

Since then, France has recorded daily cases of COVID-19 above 300,000 on the other two days and the highly contagious Omicron has become the dominant variant in cases of coronavirus infection in the country.

The average number of new COVID-19 cases per seven days in France rose to more than 280.000 cases on Tuesday (11/1).

In mid-January 2022, France plans to introduce a proof of vaccination card that will require vaccinated status for anyone wishing to go to restaurants or attend indoor events.

Until now, proof of vaccination or the latest negative COVID test result is considered sufficient for citizens in France who want to attend events or activities in public spaces.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday said the Omicron variant of COVID-19 would infect more than half of Europeans, but that it should not be treated as an endemic disease like the flu.

Europe recorded more than 7 million new cases in the first week of 2022, more than double the two-week period, WHO director for Europe Hans Kluge told a news conference.

"At this rate, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) estimates that more than 50 percent of the population in the region will be infected with Omicron in the next 6-8 weeks," Kluge said, referring to the research center at the University of Washington.

As many as 50 of 53 countries in Europe and Central Asia reported cases of the more infectious variant, he said.

However, there is evidence that Omicron affects the upper respiratory tract rather than the lungs, causing milder symptoms than the previous variant.