France reports biggest daily COVID-19 spike since April

An accordion player wears a protective facemask as he performs on a street in Antwerp, Belgium. Pic/AFP

France has reported 2,288 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the biggest daily spike since the end of April. In the past week, France registered more than 9,330 new infections, bringing the country's total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 1,97,921, the health ministry said on Friday.

Since May 9, when the French government started a gradual de-confinement, some 787 clusters have been detected, of which 288 remained active. Over the past 24 hours, 21 clusters were identified, the ministry said on Friday.

"The indicators are deteriorating, confirming a more active circulation of the virus throughout the territory, especially among young people," the health ministry warned.

"We must strengthen vigilance, mobilise ourselves to respect barrier measures, common sense gestures in the fight against the epidemic," it said.

As of Friday, the number of hospitalised COVID-19 patients fell by 49 to 5,011, continuing a downward trend of two-and-a half months. Currently, 383 people need intensive care, seven fewer than the number on Thursday, while 12 additional Coronavirus-related fatalities were recorded, bringing the total deaths to 30,324.

French scientists expected a second wave of the virus could hit the country in autumn as a result of social mixing and absence of distancing measures during the summer holidays.

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