The coronavirus epidemic continues to hit France.
166 people have died in the Covid-19 hospital in the past 24 hours, bringing the toll to 34,048 deaths, according to data from Public Health France and the Ministry of Health published this Wednesday, October 21.
Read also: Covid-19: are the cases of reinfection worrying?
26,676 new cases were detected.
The day before, 20,468 people had tested positive.
In total, 957,421 positive tests have been diagnosed since the outbreak of the epidemic in France.
9,275 individuals have been hospitalized over the past seven days, including 1,584 in intensive care.
1852 “
clusters
”, or epidemic centers, are being investigated in France, including 139 detected within 24 hours.
The positivity rate continues to increase and now stands at 13.7%.
91 departments are in a situation of high vulnerability.
What to remember from this Wednesday, October 21
Part of France is still under a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.
To download a derogatory certificate to travel during this time slot, click here.
Read also: Covid-19: blood group O, less vulnerable to the virus
This situation is likely to spread, since new departments will be placed on maximum alert from Thursday, announced government spokesman Gabriel Attal.
Saint-Étienne, Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, Tours and Nantes could be affected, given the sharp increase in their incidence rate - the number of new cases over seven days per 100,000 inhabitants.
Read also: Covid: is France the country in Europe that has invested the most in the face of the crisis?
In the rest of Europe, Ireland decided to reconfine its population, becoming the first country in Europe to do so.
And this, in the hope of "
celebrating Christmas properly
", according to Prime Minister Micheál Martin.
The Irish will be placed under house arrest for six weeks from midnight, but schools will remain open.
In the UK, Wales will be under a two-week lockdown starting Friday.
The Czech government has meanwhile announced partial containment, with travel restrictions and store closures, from Thursday until November 3.
