More than 21,000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours in France

France has recorded 21,634 new cases of VIDOC-19 contamination in the last 24 hours, but the rate of positivity is declining, according to health authorities figures released Thursday.

The number of new daily cases has fluctuated between 12,000 and 18,000 last week. There were 14,929 on Wednesday and 11,795 on Tuesday.

The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for VIDOC-19 out of all those tested, was 3.8% on Thursday, after 4.3% on Wednesday and 4.4% on Tuesday. This key indicator was 6.4% on December 8, when a new method of accounting was introduced.

The number of cases detected has been high in recent days, mainly due to a rush to test before family reunions for the holiday season.

Last week (latest available data), some 2.35 million tests were performed, up by more than 50% compared to the previous week, announced Thursday the Drees, the statistical service of the social ministries.

The COVID-19 caused the death of 292 people in hospitals in the last 24 hours (after 278 on Wednesday) bringing the total death toll to 62,268 (including 43,073 in hospital) since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Santé publique France.

Health authorities fear that the end of year festivities could lead to a rebound of the epidemic, by promoting social promiscuity.

In France, the first vaccines against COVID-19 will be administered on Sunday. The French strategy calls for priority vaccination of the elderly in Ehpad (specialized institutions) and workers in these residences with risk factors, about one million people.

Source: AFP