Paris (AFP)
Nearly 20,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in France in the past 24 hours, where the number of hospitalized patients has slightly decreased, according to figures released Thursday by Public Health France.
The number of recorded cases was 19,927 in 24 hours, against 26,457 Wednesday (but this figure for Wednesday included a catch-up of data from the day before), a figure still far from the government target of going down to 5,000 cases per day.
This daily figure has varied enormously since mid-December, fluctuating between some 3,000 and more than 21,000.
The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, is up to 3.2%, against 2.9% the day before.
With 252 new deaths in hospital in 24 hours, Covid-19 has now caused the death of 64,632 people in France since the start of the epidemic.
The number of patients hospitalized for Covid-19 is 24,407, a slight decrease (-113) compared to Wednesday, with however 1,317 new admissions.
The number of patients in intensive care or intensive care is also down slightly, with 2,625 people (-27), and 177 new admissions.
In its weekly epidemiological update published Thursday evening, Public Health France calls "for the greatest vigilance due to a possible epidemic outbreak in the coming weeks", noting a still "high" circulation of the virus.
"In the context of the end of year celebrations, this situation remains very worrying," insisted the organization.
Faced with this risk, the government decided to strengthen from Saturday the curfew over much of the eastern part of the country.
© 2020 AFP