The number of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has reached eight, the French public health agency said.
The first Omicron infection case was detected in the French overseas department of Reunion on Tuesday. The next day, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said that 13 suspected cases have been identified throughout the country.
"Eight confirmed cases of the Omicron variant in France as of 12/02 at 16:00 [15:00 GMT]," Public Health France said in a COVID-19 situation update issued late on Thursday.
The institute said numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations and critical care patients were on the rise.
As of Friday, France has confirmed over 7.8 million coronavirus cases and more than 120,000 related fatalities.
To date, 77.4% of the French population has been administered at least one dose of a vaccine against COVID-19, and 75.8% have been fully vaccinated.
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