French COVID-19 hospitalisations at a peak since early March

Vaccinations begin at the Stade de France stadium opened as a mass vaccination center

PARIS (Reuters) - French health authorities said on Monday the number of patients hospitalised for COVID-19 over the past 24 hours jumped by 579 to 24,205, the highest level since March 1, as new cases are picking up again.

On a week-on-week basis, daily COVID-19 infections have been rising again in the last three days after declining during the six previous days, prompting Health Minister Olivier Veran to say last week the current pandemic wave was past its peak.

Most of the country's COVID-19 restrictions were lifted in early March.

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Dominique Vidalon)