The threshold of 160,000 deaths linked to Covid-19 has been crossed in France, amid the ninth wave of the epidemic, according to figures published on Tuesday by Santé publique France.
A total of 160,008 people have died, 130,617 of them in hospital, the French public health department said.
The 150,000 mark was passed on 8 July.
“The epidemic has not disappeared, the virus is still killing and still striking,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said at the end of November in the National Assembly.
France has had nearly 40,000 deaths from Covid-19 so far this year.
Over 23,000 hospitalised, 135 deaths in one day
The pandemic, which had lulled after a post-summer wave, has been on the rise again for over three weeks. It is driven by the Omicron sub-variant BQ.1.1, which is gradually replacing BA.5.
Nearly three years after the start of the pandemic, this new wave is still causing the number of contaminations to rise, but at a slower rate in recent days.
As of Tuesday evening, 23,217 patients had been hospitalised, including 2,104 new admissions. One hundred and thirty-five patients have died in hospital in the past 24 hours.
Covid-19 comes on top of an early and rising flu outbreak, while bronchiolitis is at the highest levels for more than ten years in infants.
Triple epidemic
This 'triple epidemic,' which, as in other countries, is pummeling the health system, is “completely unprecedented” and its evolution difficult to predict, Santé publique France said in early December.
However, the booster vaccination against Covid is still lagging behind in France – as is the influenza vaccine – despite a recent upturn.
The government is still refraining from making masks compulsory in closed and frequented places, to the great displeasure of health workers, epidemiologists and patients' associations.
