People wait in a COVID-19 vaccination center at the National Velodrome de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, March 24, 2021. [Photo/Xinhua]
France registered 30,702 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the total count above 4.5 million. The country's hospitals are nearing the breaking point and a third nationwide confinement is very much on the cards, figures released by the health authorities showed on Tuesday.
In a single day, 188 people have been hospitalized, bringing the total to 28,510. COVID-19 patients currently occupy 5,072 resuscitation beds, the largest number since mid-November 2020, when the country entered its second confinement.
A total of 95,337 people have died of coronavirus since the start of the outbreak. The death toll was 360 on Monday and 381 on Tuesday.
Unlike its European neighbors, France has refrained from imposing a third full lockdown and kept schools open, but a night-time curfew has been in force since Jan. 16.
In the country's high risk zones, non-essential shops are closed, people are asked to work from home and travel to other regions is banned.
"We have to limit the spread of the virus and we won't do that with these half-measures," Gilles Pialoux, head of infectious diseases at the Tenon hospital in Paris, told France Inter radio on Tuesday.
"Braking measures have almost no effect," he said. "Since January, the political decisions have no scientific consistency."
On Sunday, 41 hospital doctors in the Paris region signed an article that appeared in the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, saying that they would be forced to choose between patients for emergency treatment due to overwhelmed hospitals.
Speaking at the National Assembly earlier in the day, Health Minister Olivier Veran pledged to "not let doctors be in a situation where they have to choose among patients."
"The measures taken ten days ago might start to show their effect, we will see that within 24-48 hours. If necessary, we would decide other measures to protect the French people," he said.
President Emmanuel Macron will chair a Defense Council meeting on the epidemic situation on Wednesday to decide on new restrictions.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported that over 11 million COVID-19 vaccine doses had already been administered. In total, 8,259,656 citizens (15.7 percent of the population) had received the first jab, and 2,797,060 (5.3 percent) both jabs. Enditem
France confirms 30,702 new COVID-19 cases as stricter restrictions loom
PARIS, March 30 (Xinhua) -- France registered 30,702 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the total count to over 4.5 million, while hospitals are reaching breaking point amid rising prospect of a third nationwide confinement, figures released by health authorities showed on Tuesday.
Coronavirus-related data continued to rise for the second week. 188 people were hospitalized in one day for the respiratory illness, making the total count to 28,510. Some 5,072 resuscitation beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients, marking the highest level since mid-November 2020 when the country entered its second confinement.
A total of 95,337 people infected with the coronavirus have died since the epidemic outbreak, up by 381 compared with Monday's 360.
Unlike its European neighbours, France has refrained from imposing a third full lockdown and kept schools open. But it has introduced a nightly curfew since Jan.16.
It has also opted for approaches at the local level by ordering stricter rules in high-risk zones where non-essential shops are closed, and people are asked to work at home and not travel to other regions.
"We have to limit the spread of the virus and we won't do that with these half-measures," Gilles Pialoux, head of infectious diseases at the Tenon hospital in Paris told France inter radio early Tuesday.
"Braking measures have almost no effect," he said. "Since January, political decisions have no scientific consistency."
On Sunday, 41 hospital doctors in the Paris region signed an article in the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, saying that they would be forced to choose between patients for emergency treatment due to overwhelmed hospitals.
When questioned at the National Assembly earlier in the day, Health Minister Olivier Veran pledged to "not let doctors be in a situation where they have to choose among patients."
"The measures taken 10 days ago might start to show the effect or not, we will see that within 24-48 hours. If necessary, we would decide other measures to protect French people," he said.
President Emmanuel Macron will head a defense council on the epidemic situation on Wednesday to decide on new restrictions to curb accelerating viral circulation.
Health Ministry on Tuesday reported that over 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered so far. Some 8,259,656 citizens have got the first jab, accounting for 15.7 percent of adult population, and 2,797,060 others who completed their inoculation, or 5.3 percent of adult population.
