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The nation once again exceeded its contagion bar, rising since the last days, at a time when hospitalizations and deaths are also growing – although with less severe curves. The country also registered a record of new vaccinated in the last day, with data not seen since October.
Hours after the nation’s president, Emmanuel Macron, made all the headlines for having promised to “anger” the unvaccinated in the country, France revealed a new record of infections amid an alarming sixth wave of the pandemic in the country.
According to the nation’s health authorities, there were 332,252 new infections registered in France revealed on January 5 and produced in the last 24 hours, representing a 22% increase in infections compared to the previous day, with 271,686.
In the midst of the rebound in cases and a wave led by the high level of contagion of the Omicron variant – to which the current situation is attributed – hospital pressure also increases.
In the last day, national hospitals admitted 2,500 new patients for coronavirus, of which about 400 were admitted to intensive care rooms. Currently, there are 20,688 hospitalized patients, of which 3,700 are in ICU wards.
The deaths registered during the day were 246. The nation has already registered 125,700 deaths from the disease since the pandemic began, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University in the United States.
For the first time since October, 66,000 new doses were applied
Another figure to highlight during the day this Wednesday is that of vaccinations in the first dose, with a total of 66,000 citizens who received a first injection of the inoculants allowed in French territory to fight against the pandemic.
This daily figure had not occurred since last October 1. Health Minister Olivier Véran indicated that he did not believe it was “by chance” that this sudden increase in vaccinations had occurred and hinted that this could have a link to the controversial statements of President Macron on Tuesday.
Currently, about 5 million French people have not received a vaccine against Covid-19, while some 51.9 million people have already received the complete scheme (76.9%) and about 26.2 million have received the booster dose, which began to be applied in the country since September.
Castex closes ranks around Macron and urges to approve the vaccination pass
Macron’s strong statements, delivered on Tuesday to the newspaper ‘Le Parisien’ and in which he assured that he wanted to “anger” those who have not been vaccinated, continue to echo in French politics.
Precisely this Wednesday, the country’s prime minister, Jean Castex, went to the Senate, where he answered several questions from congressmen and closed ranks around Macron and his position on the unvaccinated.
“The words of the President of the Republic are fully consistent with what we do, that is, push for vaccination,” said Castex. “We are 20 times more likely to end up in critical care if we are not vaccinated than if we are vaccinated,” said Castex, before ensuring that they will continue to promote the bill on the vaccination pass from the Government.
The regulation, promoted by Macron, seeks to make a vaccination pass mandatory with which only the vaccinated can go to restaurants, bars, cinemas and other public spaces, compared to the current health pass, which also gives the option to those who have a CRP negative.
In the Senate, the prime minister urged congressmen to “debate as quickly as possible” the new regulations to respond to the growing number of infections facing the country.
Debates in the National Assembly around the bill have been heated. They were briefly suspended on December 3 amid criticism from various opposition parties, and a day later Macron’s remarks once again inflamed lawmakers.
If the Assembly has the green light, the text must subsequently go to the Senate. But amid the heated environment of recent days, if the project is approved, there are doubts about whether it would come into force from January 15, the start date that the Government had indicated for a key element of its plan against the pandemic. .
With Reuters, AFP, EFE and local media
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