The circulation of Covid-19 is intensifying in the territory. France has exceeded in the last 24 hours the 3,700 new cases of contamination, an unprecedented increase since May, according to figures published Wednesday, August 19, by the Directorate General of Health (DGS).

According to this count, 3,776 new positive diagnoses were recorded over the last day, against 2,238 Tuesday. And since May, the bar of 3,000 new cases had only been crossed twice, Saturday and Sunday. A total of 16,747 people have tested positive for Covid-19 over the past seven days. "Nearly a third of the departments exceeded, during the last seven days, the vigilance threshold of 10 new positive RT-PCR tests per 100,000 inhabitants", according to the DGS, which quotes in particular the Île-de-France and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

>> Read also: "Covid-19: 'saturated' screening centers in Île-de-France"

Hospitalizations in (slight) decrease

Hospitalizations have fallen slightly, however: French hospitals have admitted 162 new patients with Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, compared to 185 on Tuesday. A total of 4,806 people are hospitalized with an infection with the virus, a drop from 4,823 on Tuesday. The number of patients in intensive care (374) also slightly decreased compared to the day before (380). 31 patients were admitted to intensive care units, up from 28 on Monday.

30,468 people have died in France since the start of the epidemic (i.e. 17 deaths since Tuesday), including 19,957 in hospitals and 10,511 in social and medico-social establishments. However, this figure dates from Tuesday and will be updated on August 25. The percentage of positive tests continues to increase slightly, to 3.1% against 3% on Tuesday and 21 new foci of grouped cases have been detected, also indicated the DGS.

The extended mask obligation

The marked increase in new cases of infection in recent weeks has led many municipalities to extend mask-wearing obligations outdoors. The authorities impose, from Friday, the wearing of a mask throughout the town of Toulouse, from the age of 11. Likewise, the city of Nice, which had made it compulsory to wear a mask in a large area in early August, will extend its decree on Thursday in order to now impose it on the entire town.

Another measure, to avoid a new epidemic outbreak, the Ministry of Labor announced Tuesday that wearing a mask would be "systematized" by the end of August in "all closed and shared spaces" of companies.

>> To read also: "From useless to compulsory, how the government has changed its discourse on the mask"

With AFP

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