The Omicron variant is quickly settling in the country. Interviewed this Wednesday December 22, 2021 by BFMTV, Olivier Véran said: “Omicron is now 20% of contaminations” in France. And some regions seem to be hit harder than others. This is the case of Île-de-France where the Omicron variant is “undoubtedly 35%” of contaminations, according to the Health Minister.
Yesterday already, the government spokesperson said over one case in three is caused by Omicron in Paris. And data shared by Santé Publique France confirm so. According to the health agency, as of December 16, 2021: 27.23% of cases identified in the French capital city were not Delta, namely these could be Omicron cases. This very contagious strain reported for the first time in South Africa is well settled in the rest of Île-de-France. In the detail, it is suspected in 23.4% of cases in Seine-et-Marne, 17.9% in Hauts-de-Seine, 17.51% in Val-de-Marne, 16.53% in Yvelines and 14.36% in Seine-Saint-Denis – according to our peers from LCI.
More French departments are also badly hit by Omicron namely Sarthe (25.5%), Puy-de-Dôme (21.28%), Nièvre (20%), Vienne (16.56%), Hautes-Pyrénées (15.62%), Deux-Sèvres (14.29%), Vendée (13.51%) and Charente-Maritime (13.04%).
But other territories seem rather spared by Omicron such as Calvados, Creuse, Gers, Lozère, Hautes-Alpes, and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.
Careful, note these data are an estimation. As a document from Santé Publique France reads, “increased surveillance has been instated to track in a more thorough and reactive fashion [the] Omicron [variant]. Omicron has no mutation included in the tracking strategy currently deployed in France […]. The absence of mutations investigated by tracking […] is a signal that could suspect this variant, but complete sequencing of the viral genome is necessary for confirmation”.
This December 22, Olivier Véran confirmed Omicron will be dominant in the country by late December.
