The increase is exponential.
"I have just had the contamination figures for the last 24 hours in our country (...) We were yesterday at 18,000 contaminations over 24 hours only", assured the Minister of Health Olivier Véran on Tuesday, during the meeting of questions to the government in the National Assembly.
A week ago, the number of new contaminations was around 7,000. The final figures for the last 24 hours will be published in the evening by Public Health France.
Olivier Véran attributes this situation to the circulation of the Delta variant, which is particularly contagious.
"This means that we have an increase in the circulation of the virus of the order of 150% over a week: we have never experienced this, neither with the Covid (the historical strain of the virus, editor's note), nor with the English variant, neither with South African nor with Brazilian ”, he continued.
Such a level of positive cases had not been observed since mid-May.
This confirms the statements of government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Monday evening, regarding the "fourth wave" of the epidemic which France is facing at the moment.
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To face this wave, "we have a weapon, vaccination", pleaded the minister. The government is banking on the extension of the health pass, the bill of which is to be debated in the National Assembly on Wednesday and Thursday, to contain the epidemic. The objective is to encourage as many French people as possible to be vaccinated. "The time is no longer for doubt, for hesitation, the time is for collective immunity, it is collective responsibility and it is the only way we have () to get rid of the Covid once for all ". The government fears that this increase in cases, which mainly affects young people for the moment, will eventually spread to the elderly or fragile unvaccinated and lead to an increase in hospitalizations.