More than 21,000 new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in the past 24 hours in France, according to data released by Public Health France on Thursday, after the government announced it would maintain all health restrictions in force.
Read also: Covid-19: why the English variant risks making the epidemic uncontrollable in France
The number of confirmed cases was 21,703, down from 25,379 the day before and nearly 20,000 cases seven days earlier.
This daily figure has varied enormously since mid-December, fluctuating between some 3,000 and over 21,000.
But still far, on average, from the government goal of going down to 5,000 cases per day.
The rate of positivity on the rise
The positivity rate, which measures the percentage of people positive for Covid-19 out of all those tested, was 5.7% (compared to 5.4% Wednesday and 3.2% the previous Thursday).
The number of hospitalized patients stands at 24,488, or 260 less than the previous day's total, with 1,441 new hospitalizations in 24 hours.
The number of patients in intensive care, where one in two beds is occupied by a Covid patient according to the Prime Minister, is 2,573, or 34 less than the day before, with 181 new admissions in 24 hours.
With 277 deaths in hospital, the disease has now killed 66,841 people, including 46,539 dead in hospital, since the start of the epidemic, the health agency said.
