France is still far from the target of 5,000 Covid-19 cases per day

France is still far from reducing the number of new Covid-19 cases per day to 5,000, and the risk of a strong recovery from the pandemic is still high, the Ministry of Health’s top official said on Monday.

“In recent days, the level of infection has stopped falling,” Jérôme Salomon told a news conference.

Two government sources told Reuters that France may need to delay the lifting of certain Covid-19 restrictions next week after signs that the downward trend in new infections had leveled off.

Health authorities on Monday reported 3,411 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, down sharply from 11,022 on Sunday, but Monday’s figures tend to fall as there are fewer tests on Sundays.

Meanwhile, the number of people hospitalized for the disease increased on Monday for the second day – the first time it has done so in three weeks.

The seven-day moving average of new infections, which on average calculate irregular data each week, was 10,489.

France’s cumulative number of cases now stands at 2,295,908, the fifth highest number in the world.

( Jowharwith REUTERS)