The number of new cases identified is 98,104.

The seven-day daily average, which smoothes the daily jolts, is up: it stands at 86,022 against 82,356 on Friday and 63,103 a week ago.

At the same time, the number of people hospitalized for Covid-19 continued to decrease, with 20,440 patients affected on Saturday against 20,579 on Friday and 20,860 a week earlier.

Hospitals welcomed 620 new Covid patients on Saturday against 1,182 on Friday.

The pressure is also easing a little in the intensive care units, which have 1,644 patients on Saturday, against 1,674 on Friday, and 1,857 last Saturday.

The disease has killed 59 people in 24 hours in hospitals for a total death toll of 140,903 in France since the start of the pandemic more than two years ago.

On the vaccination side, 54.27 million people in total have received at least one injection (80.5% of the total population), 53.34 million have a complete vaccination schedule (79.1%) and 39.40 million have received a booster dose.

© 2022 AFP