PARIS, Dec 22 (Reuters) - France could soon have around 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, health minister Olivier Veran said on Wednesday (Dec 22), up from around 70,000 currently as the country battles a fifth wave of the epidemic.

The Omicron variant will be the dominant strain of COVID in France by early January, Veran told BFM TV.

Veran said no new restrictions were on the table for now, although nothing could be ruled out, with authorities hoping an increase in the numbers of people having vaccinations will allow them to keep the virus in check.

On Dec 21, France registered a further 210 COVID deaths in hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the country's total death toll to 94,913, while it also recorded 72,832 new COVID cases.