France reports 23,608 COVID cases over 24 hours

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France

PARIS (Reuters) - France reported 23,608 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, up from 3,736 on Monday, while admissions to intensive care units continued to rise.

Health Minister Olivier Veran said earlier the coronavirus was still circulating at a worrying level, but stopped short of recommending a third national lockdown.

A nationwide curfew was brought forward to start at 6 p.m. from last Saturday, and authorities say it will remain in place for at least a fortnight.

Health ministry data also showed 656 people had died from the virus in hospitals on Tuesday, up from 403 on Monday, bringing the total death toll to 71,342, the world's seventh-highest.

France's cumulative total of cases is fast approaching 3 million, the sixth-highest in the world.

The health ministry also said that the number of people to receive coronavirus vaccines rose to 585,664 from 479,873 as of Monday.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Giles Elgood and John Stonestreet)