Eighteen thousand new coronavirus cases in France in the past 24 hours, an "never-before-seen" surge, according to Health Minister Olivier Véran, who attributes this disturbing increase to the Delta variant.
Last week, in France, there were fewer than 7,000 cases and now we are at 18,000.
"This - Veran said during his speech at the National Assembly - is equivalent to an increase in the circulation of the virus of the order of 150% in a week: we have never seen such a thing, nor with Covid (the historical strain of the virus) or with the English, South African or Brazilian variant ".
In France, such a high level of infections in a single day had not occurred since mid-May.
Speaking of anti-Covid measures, Véran said that "vaccination is a chance, a right, but it can become a duty". He then stressed the need to play as a team to achieve immunity.