France Surpasses 10 Million Cumulative COVID-19 Cases... Sixth Highest Worldwide

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The number of COVID-19 infections in France has surpassed 10 million. It is the sixth country to do so, following the United States, India, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and Russia.

On the 1st (local time), according to AFP and other sources, French health authorities reported 219,126 new confirmed cases. Starting from 208,099 cases on the 29th of last month, there have been over 200,000 new cases daily for four consecutive days.

The average number of new cases over the past seven days was 157,651 per day, nearly five times higher than a month ago. The cumulative number of confirmed cases has increased to 10,191,926.

The cumulative death toll rose by 110 from the previous day to 123,851. The average daily deaths over the past seven days reached 186, the highest since May 14 of last year.

The number of patients receiving hospital treatment is 18,811, of whom 3,560 are in intensive care units receiving critical care.

More than half of the new confirmed cases were infected with the highly contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19. Earlier, French health authorities reported that as of early last week, 62.5% of new cases were infected with the Omicron variant, indicating that Omicron has become the dominant strain in France.

The French government has strengthened some quarantine measures. Although President Emmanuel Macron did not mention any additional restrictions on personal freedoms in his New Year's Eve speech the day before, it appears there was no other choice given the rapid increase in hospitalizations and deaths.

On the 1st, the French government announced that the mandatory mask-wearing requirement on public transportation will be expanded from the current age of 11 and older to 6 and older starting from the 3rd, and that food and beverage service on public transportation will be banned for the next three weeks.

A spokesperson for the French National Railway Company (SNCF) explained that, except for international high-speed trains such as Eurostar, passengers will not be allowed to remove masks even to eat or drink water on other routes.

In some major cities such as Paris and Lyon, outdoor mask-wearing has been re-mandated. However, the French government does not appear to be moving toward measures such as closing restaurants and pubs.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.