France reports nearly 20,000 new Covid-19 cases, highest since late August

France now has a total of 7,310,664 Covid-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

PARIS (XINHUA) - French Public Health Agency reported on Tuesday (Nov 16) 19,778 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, a record high since Aug 25 this year when the country reported 23,706 new cases.

France now has a total of 7,310,664 Covid-19 infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

France also recorded 48 additional deaths related to the virus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 118,271.

The numbers of new hospital admissions and critical condition patients are also on rise. According to the French Public Health Agency, 7,535 patients are currently hospitalised, 647 more than the day before, and 1,277 patients are in intensive care units, including the 135 ones in the past 24 hours.

French government's spokesman Gabriel Attal said that France is on alert with the resurgence of Covid-19, but no lockdown is foreseen.

Even though France has a high vaccination rate and a less bad situation than its neighbouring countries, Mr Attal insisted that it requires an absolute vigilance in the country.

He asked eligible people to get a booster shot and warned that a booster jab might one day become mandatory to validate one's health pass if they are over 50 years old.

Such a requirement will be compulsory for those aged above 65 years, starting from Dec 15.

France has approved the use of vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and AstraZeneca.

In September, France announced that people who have received two doses of Chinese vaccines Sinovac or Sinopharm are eligible to get their health pass after the administration of a complementary dose of vaccine using the mRNA platform, such as those by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

As of Monday, a total of 51,555,017 people had received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine in France.

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