Covid-19: lightning spread of the Omicron variant

The Omicron variant of Covid-19 affects many people in the United States and could gradually spread to other countries such as France. 

A screening center installed in Time Square, in New York (United States), welcomes more than 200 people on Tuesday, December 21. Americans get tested three days before Christmas to see if they have been infected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Last week in the country, two out of three contaminations with the virus were linked to this variant, against one in ten the week before.

The fear of a massive spread in France

In certain regions of France, we fear that the Omicron variant will become the majority, as in Île-de-France, for example. "Every two days, the number of cases identified as potentially being Omicron doubles" , underlines Florence Débarre, health data officer at the CNRS. Across France, 7% to 9% of Covid cases are currently linked to Omicron. A variant therefore more contagious than Delta but not necessarily more dangerous.