French health authorities rush to contain scattered cases of the more contagious variant of the delta virus, as France prepares to reopen its borders to vaccinated visitors and celebrates falling Covid-19 infection and hospitalization rates .
Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Sunday that France had several clusters of the variant, first identified in India and likely to fuel an increase in infections in neighboring Britain, especially in the southern region. -west of the Landes. Speaking on BFM TV, Veran said the variant has not spread widely in the community and that health investigators are working to track cases.
Overall, he insisted, “the epidemic situation continues to improve sharply across the country,” but said the government was not preparing to lift mask requirements anytime soon. With an increasing number of people crowding into sidewalk cafes, parks and riverside docks in Paris, Veran warned that it was too early for people to let their guard down, especially until that more are fully immunized.
The latest weekly epidemiological report from the French Public Health Agency shows a sustained drop in viral infections, hospitalization rates and deaths, even after France began reopening schools, shops and restaurants last month . More than half of the adult population has received at least one dose of vaccine and 23% are fully immunized.
Emboldened by signs the virus is receding, one of the world’s most-visited countries reopens its borders to vaccinated travelers from the United States and much of the world from Wednesday.
The delta variant is now dominant in Britain and its spread has prompted France and some other countries to place new restrictions on visitors from the UK. The UK public health agency said early evidence suggests there may be an increased risk of hospitalization from the delta variant.
The French health agency has reported cases of the delta variant in several French regions, most of which have been linked to people arriving from India. While the number of cases remains low, the agency said, “the multiplication of episodes… increases the risk of local transmission of this variant”.
France has recorded more cases of the virus than any country in Europe and among the highest virus-related death rates in the world, with more than 109,000 lives lost.
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