France hit a new daily record for Covid infections yesterday, registering nearly half a million fresh cases, as Britain continued its recovery.
The country revealed 464,769 cases over the previous 24 hours. French officials have issued a series of diktats in a desperate bid to curb the rising case numbers.
These include forcing children as young as six to wear masks, and banning drinking while standing up in cafes or bars.
French MPs have also toughened up draconian vaccine passport rules that will ban unvaccinated people from public life.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s hardline measures are in stark contrast to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s hardline measures are in stark contrast to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s approach.
The UK Government has vowed to axe nearly all restrictions by the end of the month. France has a rolling seven-day average of 283,134 cases, while Britain has 98,684, the lowest since December 22.
Coronavirus now appears less likely to be the primary cause of death in people who die after being infected with Omicron than previous variants.
And, promisingly, new strains are likely to be even milder and cause less disruption to daily life, a government advisor said yesterday.
There were 922 deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to January 7 that mentioned coronavirus on the death certificate.
However, while Covid may have contributed to these deaths, it was not the primary cause in 210 instances, or 23 per cent of cases, the latest Office for National Statistics data show.
This is up from around 16 per cent with Delta in November and 10 per cent with the Alpha wave last January, before widespread vaccination.
A similar trend has been seen in hospital data, where
