PARIS (Dispatches) – Covid infections in France hit six figures Saturday, with health officials recording 104,611 cases over the previous 24 hours, the third consecutive day the numbers have been record highs.
The latest figures, from France’s public health agency, come ahead of a video-conference meeting Monday in which President Emmanuel Macron and key members of his government will discuss new Covid safety measures.
Officials are concerned about the effect of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
Already on Friday, the health authority recommended adults receive a booster jab three months after their initial vaccination.
Now the government is moving to make the health pass issued to the vaccinated valid only if people accept the booster jab.
The pass is required for access to cafes, restaurants and public spaces, as well as for international travel.
Meanwhile, Australia’s most populous state reported a record number of new Covid-19 cases on Sunday and a sharp jump in hospitalizations while thousands of people were isolating at home after contracting the virus or coming into contact with someone who has.
A major laboratory in Sydney, which is located in New South Wales, said that 400 people who had been informed a day earlier they had tested negative for Covid-19 had in fact tested positive. The lab’s medical director said those people were being contacted and informed of the error.
“An emergency response team is now investigating the cause of this mistake, which is believed to be due to human error. We sincerely apologize,” said SydPath medical director Anthony Dodds.
Doctors and pharmacists in New South Wales have said they are running short of vaccine doses amid a rush for shots spurred by concern over the omicron variant.
New South Wales reported 6,394 new infections, up from 6,288 a day earlier. Case numbers in the state have surged over the past two weeks but hospitalizations have lagged behind new infections.
Furthermore, the Chinese city of Xi’an, where 13 million residents are currently confined to their homes, announced tightened restrictions on Sunday as the country recorded its biggest Covid-19 infection numbers in 21 months.
China has stuck to a “zero-Covid” strategy involving tight border restrictions, lengthy quarantines and targeted lockdowns.
Authorities have been especially vigilant in recent months to avoid an outbreak before February’s Beijing Winter Olympics, but there have been sporadic flare-ups.
But on Sunday the country reported 206 new Covid infections -- the highest daily number since March 2020.
“In the coming days, a number of cases are still likely to be detected,” Xi’an official He Wenquan warned, calling on the city’s population not to panic.
The northern metropolis -- about 900 km (560 miles) from the Olympics venues -- reported 155 new Covid patients on Sunday, bringing the total to nearly 500 over the past few weeks.
About 29,000 people have been placed in hotel quarantine, He said.
Top U.S. pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci on Sunday acknowledged a Covid “testing problem” as the Omicron strain overwhelms the nation, and he vowed to make more tests available to Americans next month.