| People wearing protective masks walk in a street in Nantes as France reinforces mask-wearing |
France recorded a daily tally of 6,111 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Thursday, the highest level since lockdown ended and the second-highest ever.
It was the most since a high of 7,578 set on March 30 during lockdown, at the height of the epidemic.
The French health ministry said the total number of confirmed infections now stood at 259,698. On Wednesday, the country recorded 5,429 new infections, which was a new post-lockdown record.
The number of deaths from coronavirus increased by 32 to 30,576 from Tuesday. On Wednesday, no death or hospital data had been reported due to a technical glitch.
Despite the surge in new infections – which the government says are mainly among young people, who usually show few symptoms – the number of people in hospital fell by 65 to a new post-lockdown low of 4,535 and the number of people in intensive care units fell by 29 to 381.
Since late July, the ICU numbers have largely stabilised after failing from a high of 7,148 in early April.
REUTERS