PARIS (Reuters) – The number of people with COVID-19 disease in French intensive care units rose by 17 on Wednesday to 4,651, a peak for 2021 so far, data from the ministry of health showed.
The health ministry also reported 65,373 new coronavirus infections, more than four times the number of cases reported on Tuesday, after including new data that was not accounted for in a timely manner, the ministry said.
“Therefore, it should not be interpreted as an exponential increase in the number of daily cases, although there is a general trend of increase,” said the ministry.
The number of deaths due to COVID-19 disease has increased by 248 in the past 24 hours, to an accumulated total of 93,180, the ministry said.
Since Friday, a third of France’s population, including the Paris region, has been under a four-week blockade. Experts say it takes about two weeks for the restrictive measures to take effect.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Tom Hogue and Sonya Hepinstall)