More than 21,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours in France, according to data released by Public Health France on Thursday, after the government announced it would maintain all health restrictions in force.
66,841 people have died since the start of the epidemic.
The number of confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to the latest report from Public Health France published Thursday, was 21,703, against 25,379 the day before and nearly 20,000 cases seven days previously.
This daily figure has varied enormously since mid-December, fluctuating between some 3,000 and over 21,000.
But still far, on average, from the government goal of going down to 5,000 cases per day.
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More than 2,500 intensive care beds occupied
"The level of contaminations in our country remains high, it has even tended to increase since mid-December" and "the health situation has become more fragile in recent weeks, with pressure on our hospital system which remains very strong" , stressed Prime Minister Jean Castex during a press conference.
The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, was 5.7% (compared to 5.4% Wednesday and 3.2% the previous Thursday).
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The number of hospitalized patients stands at 24,488, or 260 less than the previous day's total, with 1,441 new hospitalizations in 24 hours.
The number of patients in intensive care, where one in two beds is occupied by a Covid patient according to the Prime Minister, is 2,573, or 34 less than the day before, with 181 new admissions in 24 hours.
With 277 deaths in hospital, the disease has now killed 66,841 people, including 46,539 dead in hospital, since the start of the epidemic, the health agency said.