French Daily Covid Cases Hit 350,000, a New Record

(Bloomberg) -- France registered a new record number of daily Covid-19 infections, as the omicron variant continued its fast-paced spread across the country.

New cases totaled 368,149 on Tuesday, according to data from the public health office. That beat the previous record of just over 330,000 recorded last Wednesday. 

The period is “unquestionably difficult, marked these last days by records of infections,” French Health Minister Olivier Veran said in the country’s Senate on Tuesday, according to Agence France-Presse. “The hospital system is subjected to a tremendous ordeal.”

There were 341 new deaths linked to Covid, bringing the total recorded since the pandemic to 126,059.

The steadily high numbers come as the debate around vaccinations heats up. Lawmakers are discussing new legislation that would restrict access to restaurants, museums, trains and airplanes to people with a full vaccination status only.

French teachers are planning a strike on Thursday to protest the measures in place to curb the spread in the virus in schools. 

The government aims to enforce the new law on Jan. 15.

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