According to the WHO’s weekly Covid update released on Tuesday, the number of new Covid infections increased by 57% in Europe and 30% in the Americas in the week leading up to December 26.
As the Omicron coronavirus variant continues to spread across Europe, multiple European countries have reported record high COVID-19 cases. On Tuesday, France reported a total of 179,807 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, the largest daily total since the epidemic began. On Saturday, a previous high of 104,611 was set.
However, France was not alone in smashing records on Tuesday, as Italy, Greece, Portugal, and the United Kingdom also reported new highs.77 percent of French people have been properly vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Monday.
On Wednesday, French Health Minister Olivier Veran predicted that the Omicron coronavirus strain would spread across the country by late December.
On Tuesday, the United Kingdom reported a total of 129,471 new cases of COVID-19, excluding Northern Ireland and Scotland. On December 24, the previous peak for daily infections was 122,186.
Despite having one of the best vaccination rates in the world, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy, and Greece all reported record-high daily coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
