According to the latest data released by Public Health France on Sunday, 96,678 people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic in France.

In the intensive care units, more than 5,300 patients are now treated, while hospitalizations continue to increase. 

Hospital pressure increased further on Sunday, with more than 5,300 Covid-19 patients in intensive care, according to daily figures from Public Health France.

On Sunday, there were 5,341 people in the intensive care units of hospitals, which treat the most serious forms of the disease, against 5,273 the day before, and 4,872 a week ago.

There were 270 new admissions in 24 hours, the health agency said.

This indicator is closely monitored by the health authorities, who fear hospital congestion, in the middle of the third wave of the novel coronavirus epidemic.

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The peak of the first wave still far away

In total, 96,678 people have died from Covid-19 since the start of the epidemic in France according to data released on Sunday, i.e. 185 additional deaths in hospital in 24 hours.

The peak of the second wave, which amounted to 4,903 patients in critical care in mid-November, was exceeded on Monday.

However, it is still far from that of the first wave (a little over 7,000).

To cope with the influx of patients, President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday "additional reinforcements" in intensive care and to go "in the coming days" to more than 10,000 beds, against 7,665 currently.

The number of hospitalizations is also on the rise, with 29,356 Covid patients - a highest since November 2020 - including 1,224 new admissions in 24 hours (1,730 the day before).

On the contamination front, 66,794 cases have been recorded, a figure including the catching up of data that had not been transmitted on Saturday, explains Public Health France.

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, is 7.8%.

According to health authorities, nearly 9.3 million people have received at least one injection of a Covid-19 vaccine, and more than 3.1 million people have received 2 doses.

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The whole country has been subject to a new wave of restrictions since Saturday, with school closings for three to four weeks and travel limited to 10 km in metropolitan France.

Measures intended to curb the epidemic outbreak.