France reports nearly 27,000 new COVID-19 cases, biggest jump since Nov
France reported nearly 27,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the biggest one-day jump since mid-November when France was in its second lockdown and a further sign that a tighter curfew is not containing the virus.
- World
- Reuters
- Published Date: 11:14 | 27 January 2021
- Modified Date: 11:14 | 27 January 2021
The health ministry reported 26,916 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, up from 22,086 on Tuesday and 26,784 last Wednesday, pushing the cumulative total over 3.1 million.
It is the third time since the end of December that France has reported more than 26,000 cases in a day and the highest tally since the more than 28,000 reported on Nov. 18.
At the peak of the second coronavirus wave, France reported a record 86,852 new cases on Nov. 7.
A week after the second lockdown in November, the seven-day average of new cases had dropped to just over 10,000, with the government hoping that a nightly curfew introduced from early December would keep new infections at a low level.
But daily infections have risen steadily despite a tightening of the curfew to 1800 CET from mid-January, and the seven-day average has now been over 20,000 for five days.
A government spokesman said earlier on Wednesday that the nightly curfew is failing to slow the spread of infections and that tighter curbs are under consideration.
The health ministry said 27,169 people are currently hospitalised with coronavirus, a rise of 128 from Tuesday, with 26 more people in intensive care, taking the total to 3,107.
The number of people who have died from the virus rose by 350 to 74,456.