The list of confined departments is growing.

The new health restrictions, including the closure of shops and the ban on travel beyond 10 km without exemption, have been extended to three additional departments: the Rhône, Aube and Nièvre, announced Thursday, March 25. Minister of Health, Olivier Véran.

"After consultation" with elected officials and prefects, "it appeared essential to amplify the protective measures" for these three departments, which are in addition to the 16 already placed since this weekend under these "reinforced braking" measures , added the minister during a press briefing.

"The trend is almost everywhere to acceleration", even if the level of circulation of the virus remains "different from one region to another," said Olivier Véran during his weekly press conference on the health situation.

This situation justifies the territorialized management of the epidemic, said the Minister of Health, who also announced that around twenty departments were placed under reinforced surveillance due to a worrying increase in hospitalizations in parallel with the increase in contaminations.

According to health authorities, 45,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

Growing pressure on hospitals

According to the Minister of Health, who reports a rejuvenation of patients admitted to intensive care, hospital pressure will continue to rise in the coming days.

The number of patients with Covid-19 in intensive care continues to increase, exceeding 4,700 people and getting closer to the record for the second wave in the fall, according to Public Health France.

The resuscitation figure has been rising steadily since the lowest recorded on January 7 (2,573 patients).

It reached 4,709 on Thursday against 4,651 the day before, and is progressing towards the second wave record, which stood at 4,903 on November 16.

During the last 24 hours, 408 patients entered intensive care against 384 the day before.

The total number of people hospitalized in France with a positive Covid-19 diagnosis stands at 27,036, with 1,860 new admissions in 24 hours.

228 people have died in the last 24 hours in hospital.

With Reuters and AFP

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