The number of Covid infections has surged to a new level in Europe as France has logged a record of nearly 1,80,000 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours. As many as 1,79,807 new Covid-19 cases have been registered in France within the past 24 hours, which is a record high number since the beginning of the pandemic, Xinhua reported citing the national agency for public health on Tuesday.

French Health Minister Olivier Veran predicted on Wednesday that the Omicron coronavirus strain might become prevalent in the country in late December. As of Monday, 77 per cent of the French have been fully vaccinated against Covid-19, said Xinhua On Tuesday, the UK reported 1,29,471 new Covid infections in a day, the highest daily recorded so far in the country. It came after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged its citizens to get vaccinated.