It’s now official. Omicron has a strong presence in the Alpes-Maritimes. According to our information, a first case of this variant of Covid-19 has been detected in the department. The discovery of this case was confirmed in Nice-Matin by the Regional Health Agency.
“This is a patient hospitalized at the Nice University Hospital”, specifies Michèle Guez, deputy director of the departmental delegation of the ARS, without further clarifying his state of health.
No vaccinated 3rd dose in Alpes-Maritimes hospitals
Tuesday, December 21, the situation continued to be tense in the hospitals of the Alpes-Maritimes.
According to the latest data from Public Health France, the intensive care services of the Alpes-Maritimes have experienced 15 new admissions in the past 24 hours, bringing the number of patients in critical care in the department to 76.
Hospitals have also admitted 47 patients to conventional hospitalization in the last 24 hours. In total, 363 patients are hospitalized for Covid +.
“Of hospitalized patients, 80% are not vaccinated, says Michèle Guez from the ARS. Who pursues: “The remaining 20% do not have a complete vaccination schedule or have not had their booster dose. This proves once again how effective the vaccine is in protecting us against severe forms of Covid-19.”
The ARS also announced Tuesday morning the deprogramming of so-called “non-urgent” medico-surgical interventions in all hospitals in the Paca region. The last level of hospital pressure, level 5, has been triggered. According to our information, The Regional Health Agency (ARS) authorized the transfer of three new patients, hospitalized in intensive care in Bouches-du-Rhones.
Nearly 160 suspicions in the Alpes-Maritimes
The presence of the Omicron variant had been strongly suspected in the Alpes-Maritimes for several days. According to our information, it is very present in the wastewater of the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolis.
According to Public Health data, dated Monday, December 20, it could be present in 2% of positive cases for Covid-19 detected between December 12 and December 17. Reported to the number of positive cases, this would represent around 160 suspicions of Omicron in the Alpes-Maritimes.
According to these data, our department would be -for the moment- one of the most spared the presence of this dreaded variant which is raging in several countries of the European Union.
In France, “about 20% of positive cases for Covid-19” now fall under the highly contagious variant Omicron, government spokesman Gabriel Attal announced on Tuesday evening.
Highly contagious, Omicron doubles the number of cases “every two to three days”, he had underlined a little earlier on France 2, recalling the “absolutely stunning progression” already observed in the United Kingdom, but also “question mark” on “the share of serious cases requiring hospitalization” linked to this variant.