France Is Hit By A Wave Of COVID-19 Again Because Of A New Variant, Experts Support The Mandatory Re-implementation Of Masks In Public Transportation

JAKARTA - France is facing a new wave of COVID-19 infections triggered by a new variant of the disease, France's head of vaccinations Alain Fischer said on Wednesday, as daily new cases peaked nearly two months a day earlier, with more than 95.000 cases.

Speaking on France 2 television, he said there was no doubt once again there was an escalation in the pandemic in the country, adding he personally supported the mandatory re-imposition of face masks on public transport.

"The question is: 'what is the intensity of this wave?'" Fischer said.

Other European countries, notably Portugal, also saw gains, as two new Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which, according to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECC), are likely to be dominant in the region.

The variants do not appear to carry a higher risk of severe disease than other forms of Omicron, but because they are somewhat more infectious than the latter, it can lead to increased hospitalizations and deaths, the ECDC said.

There is usually a two-week delay between cases and hospitalization trends, with then a similar delay in COVID-19 deaths.

New infections have steadily increased since late May in France, with the seven-day moving average of daily new cases nearly tripling between May 27's 17.705 and Tuesday's 50.402.

Nevertheless, the number is still seven times lower than the record 366,179 reached at the start of the year.

Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized with the disease fell to a six-month low of 13.876 on Saturday, but has risen by 458 over the past three days, at 14.334, a nearly three-week high.

The death toll from COVID-19 in France increased by 56 people over 24 hours on Tuesday, taking the total now to 149.162.