France has recorded around 104,611 COVID-19 cases, a record high for the country since the pandemic began back in March 2020. Saturday (25th Dec) was the third day in a row the country reported to have record-breaking levels of infection.

This increase in cases is a result of the Omicron variant, which is said to be spreading at an alarming rate, unnerving officials worldwide.

As per reports, the President of France Emmanuel Macron and other prominent members of his administration will hold a video-conference meeting on Monday to discuss the new measures to be counter the surging COVID-19 cases.

Even the French health authority has advised the Macron administration to allow adults who have received both doses of vaccination to receive booster shots three months after their final doses. So far, approximately 76.5% of the total population has been immunized.

Notably, the French government intends to issue health passes to vaccinated citizens only after they accept the booster shot. This pass appears to be required for entering any public spaces, restaurants, or cafes, as well as for international travel.

To deal with the rapidly increasing cases, many regions in the country have implemented their safety measures as well. In Southeast France for instance, Savoie department officials have mandated the wearing of masks in both indoor and outdoor public spaces.

This measure, which was instated during the first wave of the outbreak, is now being adopted in the neighboring country Italy as well.

Experts believe that the most recent statistics are highly worrying since they show a dramatic increase in figures when compared to the beginning of December when the numbers were just crossing 50,000 for the first time.

So far, France has recorded a total of 122,546 deaths from COVID-19. The government has also been taking extreme precautions to prevent the count from ascending any further.

Source credit:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/26/france-reports-100000-covid-cases-for-first-time