‘Eighth wave of Covid imminent in France’ says health ministry

Covid appears to be making a comeback in France, after cases jumped by 55.5% over the past seven days, and 41,850 cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

The figures from the Health Ministry and health authority Santé publique France, released on September 13, show a significant rise in infections. The daily average over the past seven days is around 17,000, but rising.

The Health Ministry has warned that “an eighth wave” appears to be imminent and Health Minister François Braun has called on people in France to take “responsibility” and think about bringing back their social distancing and hygiene measures where appropriate.

He added that the government is following “the potential evolution of this epidemic”, to “react as soon as we see signs of a resurgence”.

Read more: Eighth Covid wave in France this autumn expected to be less severe

From September 11 to September 12, there were 4,579 new cases. This was a drop from 16,422 cases the day before, but a rise compared to September 5, which saw 3,443 cases.

The incidence level (the number of cases per 100,000 people) had risen to 178.2 by September 12 compared to 173 on Sunday 11.

The incidence rate is rising among children aged under 10 particularly, which is thought to be linked to the rentrée (return to school in September).

Health Minister François Braun told BFMTV Marseille on September 9 that the country was “calling on the responsibility of our citizens”, and asking people to respect barrier gestures.

He said that the ministry was following the “potential evolution of this epidemic” daily, and would “react as soon as we see signs of a return”.

The majority of cases are from sub-variants of the Omicron strain BA5, which are more contagious but generally less virulent.

The number of people arriving at hospitals has risen (550 over the past 24 hours), but the number of people actually being admitted to a ward has dropped (118 fewer people in the past 24 hours). There were 63 people admitted to intensive care in the past week (two in the past 24 hours).

A total of 13,065 Covid patients are currently in hospital nationwide, of which 727 are in intensive care. A total of 49 people have died with Covid in hospital over the past 24 hours, versus 609 people who returned home in the same time.

Since the start of the pandemic, 125,456 people in France have died.

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