Omicron spread: France reports record of nearly 180,000 COVID-19 cases

As governments across Europe fight to curb the Omicron variant, France has reported the largest daily number of Covid cases ever.

However, France was not alone in smashing records on Tuesday, as Italy, Greece, Portugal, and the United Kingdom also reported new highs.

France reported a record high of 179,807 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period on Tuesday, one of the highest one-day tallies worldwide since the start of the pandemic.

Part of the reason for the data could be related to reporting delays over the holidays.

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Countries had been reporting increases in the run-up to the holidays, owing to the more contagious Omicron variant. 

As countries restored harsh restrictions to stamp out COVID-19 outbreaks, the WHO warned that the Omicron coronavirus variant might overwhelm healthcare systems, despite early studies suggesting it causes milder symptoms.

Surges of COVID-19 have wreaked havoc around the world, forcing many countries to choose between economically onerous restrictions and controlling the virus's growth. 

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To reduce disturbance, the United States has cut the time spent in isolation for asymptomatic patients in half.

For the second year in a row, contact limits were in place in Germany as the European Union's largest economy closed nightclubs and forced sports competitions behind closed doors.

Despite the fact that the outbreak is significantly less than in other global viral hotspots, China has maintained its "zero COVID" policy, issuing stay-at-home orders in several regions of Yan'an.

Hundreds of thousands of people in the area were among the 13 million people in Xi'an who were ordered to stay at home for the sixth day as China battled its highest daily case count in 21 months. 

(With inputs from agencies)