It hadn’t happened for almost four months. This week, the new contaminations recorded on the territory showed a decrease for four consecutive days, which had not happened for almost four months. The incidence rate is also decreasing. Enough to give rise to the hope that the peak of this dazzling fifth wave would have passed. However, the figures are not equivalent in terms of hospitalizations and deaths due to Covid-19.
More than 330,000 new cases of Covid were thus recorded in France between Friday and Saturday, according to figures from the health authorities, a level which remains historically high but which confirms the recent trend of no longer progressing. Exactly 332,398 new cases have been diagnosed in France, according to Public Health France. A figure slightly lower than a week earlier (389,320 seven days ago).
Contaminations and the incidence rate down
The average number of cases over the last seven days, the most faithful witness to the real trend in recorded contaminations, stands at 345,391, a figure which has also been declining slightly each day since the middle of the week. This could suggest that we are currently on a very high plateau, even if we are still sailing at levels never seen before the arrival at the end of 2021 of the particularly contagious Omicron variant.
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The incidence rate, which also remains at record highs, has also been declining since the middle of last week. While it was at 3798 last Monday, according to government figures, it fell slightly to 3710. A level which remains very high, testifying to the spectacular contagiousness of the Omicron variant, now the majority in the territory.
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Decline in critical care but not in hospital
Trends in hospitalizations and deaths, crucial for the management of the epidemic, remain stable compared to the last few days. In the past 24 hours, 178 people diagnosed with Covid have died in hospital, a slight increase from a week earlier (167 died on January 22). Overall hospitalizations continue to progress, with a total of 31,282 patients currently in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (compared to 28,515 seven days ago).
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On the other hand, the decline, albeit slow, continues in critical care services, including intensive care units, which currently receive 3,634 Covid patients (3,746 seven days earlier). The Omicron variant causes less severe forms of Covid, which results in shorter hospital stays and a lower risk of going to intensive care.
Nevertheless, the number of deaths due to the virus remains stable, and even peaked on January 25 with 469 deaths recorded. Vaccination (now 80% of the population has received at least a first dose), however, does not reach the record levels of April 2020, the month during which 1,438 deaths were recorded in 24 hours.