Covid-19: France crosses the 130,000-death mark

France reached the symbolic threshold of 130,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 on Thursday, less than two years after the start of the pandemic, according to figures from Public Health France.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, 130,015 people in France that were infected with Covid-19 have died in hospitals, retirement homes, or other medico-social establishments.

In the past 24 hours, French health authorities have recorded 268 new deaths, a 19% increase compared to last week, according to the health agency.

Public Health France reported 392,168 new cases of contamination with the new Coronavirus in the country, a daily average of 363,579 positive cases, an increase of 12% over the previous week.

In addition, the health agency recorded an average of 2,822 hospital admissions for Covid-19 each day in France, up by 11% compared to the previous week, 30982 people are currently being treated in hospitals for Covid-19 infections, up 11% from a week earlier.

A total of 3,694 people have been admitted to critical care as a result of the virus every day on average, an increase of 3% from the previous week.

France imposed since January 24 a vaccination pass among its population in an attempt to contain the current COVID-19 wave.

The vaccination pass will therefore replace the health pass, becoming compulsory for people aged over 16 in order to access outdoor places nationwide.

France will begin a gradual lifting of Covid restrictions from February 2 amid “encouraging signs” that the wave of infections due to the Omicron variant is ebbing, Prime Minister Jean Castex said Thursday.

In a first step, the audience capacity limits for concert halls, sporting matches and other events — 2,000 people indoors, and 5,000 outdoors — will be ended from February 2.

Working from home will also no longer be mandatory for eligible employees, and face masks will not be required outside.