France has 77,952 deaths linked to Covid-19, according to the latest report published Thursday by Public Health France.

In 24 hours, hospitalizations and resuscitations have dropped slightly, but the pressure on hospitals remains strong.

The circulation of the virus is otherwise stable, still at a high level.

More than 23,000 cases of Covid-19 contamination have been recorded in 24 hours in France, where hospital pressure remains high against a background of the progression of more contagious variants, according to data from Public Health France published on Thursday.

The number of contaminations (23,448) is down compared to the previous day (26,362), but remains on a high plateau, fluctuating between 20,000 and 26,000 since January.

The positivity rate is stable at 6.7%.

>> LIVE - Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Thursday, February 4

Hospitals shift "less urgent" care

In 24 hours, 360 people were swept away by Covid-19 disease in hospital (against 358 the day before), bringing the death toll to 77,952 since the start of the epidemic in France.

The situation remains tense on the front lines of hospitals, which currently welcome 27,766 patients (- 187 compared to Wednesday), including 1,752 new admissions.

Among them, 3,240 patients are treated in the intensive care units, including 275 who arrived in the last 24 hours.

During previous waves, the number of patients in sheaves had reached 7,000 in the spring and 4,900 in the fall.

The day before, 3,267 Covid patients were in intensive care.

"Today, 6 out of 10 patients in our intensive care units are Covid patients, forcing many of our hospitals to postpone less urgent care to free up beds," Prime Minister Jean Castex said during '' a press conference at the end of the day.

Health authorities fear hospital saturation, but to date, the situation "does not justify" a new confinement, he said.

To avoid this scenario, the government has renewed its prudential instructions, just before the start of the winter school holidays.

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The British and South African variants of the coronavirus are being watched very closely because they raise fears of a further explosion of the epidemic before the vaccination can produce its effects.

"These variants do not constitute a potential threat but a very real one," warned Jean Castex, who promised 1.7 million additional appointments for the first injections of vaccines in the coming days.

Thursday evening, 1.766 million people had received at least a first dose and 189,000 a booster, said Minister of Health Olivier Véran.