France experienced the worst day in its history on Thursday in terms of new cases of COVID-19. More than 91,000 new infections were registered and the number of deaths also increased, as the country battles a fifth wave of the virus.
“Today’s figures are not good,” said Health Minister Olivier Veran.
Veran had previously told reporters that the number of cases would stand at around 88,000 by Thursday, but the final official tally from the Health Ministry showed 91,608 new cases.
Veran had already warned earlier this week that France would soon reach 100,000 new COVID-19 cases a day.
Data from the Ministry of Health also showed that France recorded a further 179 COVID-19 deaths in hospitals over the past 24 hours, while the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units reached 3,208, an increase of 61 compared to the previous day.
President Emmanuel Macron hopes that the COVID-19 vaccine booster campaign in France will help contain the fifth wave of the coronavirus affecting the country.
Its aim is to avoid the imposition of tough new restrictions, although the French government has said that all options will be considered to deal with any rapid deterioration of the situation.
