Paris (AFP)
The number of new cases of Covid-19 remains well above 15,000 per day in France, according to official figures released on Saturday.
However, that of patients who contracted this disease treated in intensive care continues to slowly decline: 2,718 (including 123 people admitted in the last 24 hours) against 2,764 the day before, according to Public Health France.
The decline has been marked since the peak of the second wave, recorded on November 16 with 4,903 patients in intensive care.
The positivity rate of those tested stood at 5.6%, against 5.9% the day before.
It was 6.4% on December 8, when a new method of accounting for this key indicator was introduced.
The disease has resulted in the deaths of 190 new patients in hospitals compared to Friday, for a total of 60,418 deaths since the start of the pandemic in March.
The number of people tested positive remains high, with 17,565 new cases in 24 hours, against 15,674 the day before.
The health authorities fear that the end of year celebrations, by promoting social promiscuity, will cause a significant resumption of the epidemic.
The vaccination campaign should start in the last week of December.
In this regard, the Haute Autorité de Santé estimated on Saturday that there was no need in France to systematically vaccinate people already infected with the coronavirus, but that there was nothing to prevent it if they wished.
© 2020 AFP