France records 180,000 new infections of COVID-19

After roughly 180,000 new Covid cases broke the daily case record since the pandemic began, France said on Wednesday that nightclubs would be closed for another three weeks.

On December 6, officials ordered the nearly 1,600 clubs to close for four weeks in order to prevent a surge of illnesses caused by holiday travel and festivities, which were fueled by the highly contagious Omicron variety.

However, France’s health ministry announced on Tuesday that 179,807 Covid instances had been registered in the previous 24 hours, greatly above the previous high of 100,000 cases reported on Saturday.

The decision to extend nightclub closures was one of a number of new measures announced by the government this week in an attempt to stem the Omicron spread, according to Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne on France Inter radio.

“I can picture the anguish these employees and entrepreneurs are going through,” he remarked. He stated that financial assistance would be provided to compensate for the significant loss of vacation business.

This week, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin urged local officials to limit public New Year’s Eve celebrations, in particular by enforcing face masks outside and increasing police patrols to enforce a nighttime prohibition on public alcohol consumption.

In order to encourage more Covid vaccinations, Parliament will begin discussing a new bill on Wednesday that will demand a “vaccine pass” to attend restaurants, movies, museums, and other public facilities.

With 90 percent of the eligible population vaccinated, France already has one of the highest immunisation rates in the world.

Previously, in the absence of immunisation, the so-called “health pass” could be obtained by presenting a recent negative Covid test.