The encouraging signs are multiplying.
According to the French public health agency (SPF), the circulation of the virus slowed down last week “with an incidence rate down 8%”.
An improvement in the indicators which suggests that the peak of the fifth wave has now passed.
But traffic remains high, especially among those over 70, also warned SPF, inviting not to relax the braking measures.
"This indicator continued to increase among people aged 70 and over and remained at a very high level (over 3,000 cases per 100,000 inhabitants) in the majority of regions", noted the French public health agency during a press briefing.
The greatest increase was observed among those aged 90 and over (+19%).
The number of new hospitalizations was down slightly (-7%) while that of critical care admissions stabilized (-3%).
“At the national level, the slowdown in the incidence rate observed this week is in favor of the passage of the peak of the 5th wave.
However, the level of circulation of the virus remains high in certain age groups, and its heterogeneity in the region invites us to be cautious,” summarized Geneviève Chêne, Director General of Public Health France.
The threat of the BA.2 variant looms
Is the worst really behind us, as the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, said on Wednesday evening?
There are "encouraging signs, but very, very great caution" is required, insists the health agency.
The emergence of variants like BA.2 is attracting “the greatest attention”.
The Omicron BA.2 sub-variant, which is probably more contagious, thus continues to progress in France: it represented 2% of sequencing in the third week of January, against 0.2% two weeks earlier.
There is “a real slowdown in the number of new cases” but “deaths continue to increase”, also warned the agency.
According to the counts of the last 24 hours, 280 people died in hospital with a Covid diagnosis (compared to 277 the day before).
Read alsoCovid-19: does an unvaccinated young adult really have no risk of dying with Omicron?
"Things are starting to improve, but it is precisely because they are improving that we must continue" all the braking measures such as "vaccination, tests and barrier measures", according to the agency. .