A record broken day by day which the subjects of his Majesty would have done well.
Faced with an outbreak of contamination linked to the Omicron variant, the United Kingdom has precisely reported 88,376 positive cases recorded in 24 hours, unheard of since the start of the pandemic in 2020, according to official figures.
This Wednesday, already, the previous record which went back to January 8, 2021 with 68,053 cases, had been largely beaten with more than 78,000 new contaminations detected.
The country is one of the most affected in Europe by Covid-19 with 146,937 dead (+ 146 in 24 hours) according to official figures provided by the government.
Both indicators but on the same graph (with two different scales).
pic.twitter.com/u0TFqCrvtU
- Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) December 16, 2021
As a result, the French government announced on Thursday morning a number of decisions regarding the control of the flow of travelers from the United Kingdom.
"We will reduce the period of validity to come to France: it was 48 hours until now, it will drop to 24 hours", indicated Gabriel Attal, the spokesperson for the government.
The government spokesperson indicates that it will also be a question of "limiting the reasons which allow one to come from the United Kingdom to France".
Travel between the two countries will "be limited to nationals, French residents and their families".
A wind of panic across the country
"An Omicron tidal wave is coming" in the United Kingdom, warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday in a televised address, announcing to counter a strong acceleration of the vaccine booster campaign.
This campaign has been greatly accelerated with more than 745,000 booster doses injected in one day, a record, the government said Thursday.
So, between last minute cancellations and long queues in front of vaccination centers, the British are turning their plans upside down in the hope of spending the Christmas holidays without Omicron.
While the government has imposed only limited measures (teleworking, indoor masks and health passes for gatherings), some play it safe and limit their outings to avoid being contaminated until one Christmas week.
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Even if they are not strictly prohibited, many “Christmas parties” of companies (Christmas meals between colleagues), institutions in the United Kingdom, have been canceled, to the chagrin of the pubs.
Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has even called on Britons to limit their interactions to reduce their chances of catching or transmitting the virus.
Even Queen Elizabeth II, 95, gave up as a precaution her traditional family reunion which was to bring together around 50 people on Tuesday at Windsor Castle, for the first time since the death of her husband Philip in April.
This new wave of Covid-19 has also affected football with, in particular, the cancellation of the Europa League Conference (C4) meeting between Tottenham and Rennes due to cases of Covid-19 within the English team.