The winter wave of Covid-19 continued its decline in France on Thursday, which began several weeks ago, allowing the government to announce the lifting of most health restrictions.
In the past 24 hours, 60,225 new cases have been recorded, according to the French public health agency. With this figure, the seven-day average, which gives an idea of the real evolution of the epidemic, declines to 52,222 cases against 53,152 the day before (and more than 66,000 seven days ago).
The pressure is also reduced in the hospital. A total of 23,175 patients are hospitalized with Covid, including 2,231 in critical care, these two figures being down from the previous day. The previous Thursday, hospitals had 26,118 Covid + patients, including 2,656 in critical care.
Covid-19: situation in hospitals
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167 additional deaths were recorded in 24 hours at the hospital, against 197 a week ago.
These figures testify to the strong ebb of the wave observed since last autumn, first carried by the Delta variant then by its successor Omicron, which is much more contagious.
Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday the end of wearing a mask, except in transport, and the suspension of the vaccination pass from March 14.
“Wearing a mask will no longer be required from Monday March 14 in the workplace, nor in classrooms,” said Matignon.
Covid-19 in France
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The government had so far mentioned a passage below the threshold of 1,500 patients in critical care by mid-March among the criteria for lifting all or part of the vaccination pass, in force since January 24.
In intensive care units, there is a “decrease of around 400 to 500 patients per week”, noted Olivier Véran, welcoming that hospitals are no longer forced to deprogram other care.
Vaccination continues, but at a slow pace: 54.21 million French people have received at least one dose (i.e. 80.4% of the population), 53.25 million are fully vaccinated (79% of the population total), and 39.1 million received a booster dose, according to the Directorate General of Health.
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