France Detects Nine Omicron Cases as Government Eyes Tourism Hit
(Bloomberg) -- France said it has detected nine cases of the omicron variant, even as President Emmanuel Macron's government steps in with fresh promises to support the country's hard-hit tourism industry.
Cases of the new coronavirus variant were found in different parts of France and in the overseas territory of La Reunion, and the country is stepping up efforts to identify and isolate them as soon as possible, health authorities said in an emailed statement on Friday.
Omicron has probably been circulating in the country “for a few weeks,” French Health Minister Olivier Veran said in an interview on FranceInfo radio, adding that the government is accelerating its booster campaign and will review possible new restrictions on Monday. He declined to elaborate.
France's government has once again gone into crisis mode, with Veran and other ministers warning about a new wave that's hitting the country more strongly than expected in spite of a high level of vaccination. The new wave “is rising fast,” Veran said.
Macron, who faces re-election next year, also has an eye on the tourism sector, which had just started to recover before the emergence of the new virus strain. The government is speaking to industry representatives to determine where help is needed following a slight slowdown in reservations over the last 10 days, Junior Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne said.
“We're not here to abandon them,” Lemoyne said in an interview on France 2 television. “We are looking for where the needs are. Tourism is a national priority.”
France Pledges $2.2 Billion to Bolster Appeal for Tourists
France will do everything to avoid stricter Covid-19 measures but lockdowns remain “a tool” should the situation worsen drastically, Jean-Francois Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council advising the government, said in an interview on RMC radio on Thursday.
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Unhedged Position | Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
-
Navigating Energy Crossroads: S Jaishankar's Call For Diversified Supply Chains At G20 Ministerial Meeting
As geopolitical fault lines continue to test maritime trade routes and commodity flows, Jaishankar's message remains pertinent: true economic resilience requires open markets, protected transit lines, and a genuine commitment to multilateral cooperation rather than coercion.
-
Indians Are Travelling, But Not Every Journey Is A Holiday | The Week In Whys
Pilgrims, patients and working women are the real travellers, and the system hasn't quite caught up with them.
-
Getting To Work Costs Women More | The Reason Why
It is not just about women paying more than men. It is about women paying much more in cities than in villages.
-
AI Bias In Investing Cannot Be Eliminated, But It Can Be Governed
Framing is a particularly important example as identical financial information presented in terms of gains rather than losses can lead an LLM to reach a different assessment.
-
Joining The Dots | Dark Skies, Steady Diya: Why Hope Holds This Diwali
With war, a weak rupee and foreign outflows weighing on sentiment, policymakers at the NDTV World Summit and market veterans at NDTV Profit Ignite: Diwali Edition offered the same advice: stay invested and filter out the noise.
-
The Curious Case of Equitas Small Finance Bank And A CEO Who Quit For Stock
PN Vasudevan believes persistent investor concerns over a perceived conflict of interest had become a governance overhang on Equitas Small Finance Bank's stock, even as the lender improved profitability and asset quality.
