PARIS (Reuters) – France reported 22,139 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Friday, down from 23,448 on Thursday and 22,858 last Friday, as the trend remained steady, but the number of patients in hospital fell for the third day in a row.
The cumulative number of cases increased to 3.29 million.
The number of people in hospital with the virus fell by 194 to 27,614 and the number of people in intensive care fell by five to 3,245, slightly easing pressure on the French medical system.
The health ministry also reported 651 new coronavirus deaths, including 358 retirement home deaths over a three-day period, from 357 deaths on Thursday in hospitals only. France has recorded a total of 78,603 deaths from the virus, of which nearly a third were in retirement homes.
The ministry said in a separate statement that 1.84 million people had now been vaccinated and 234,923 had been given a second dose.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Jean Castex said the coronavirus situation in France remained fragile but that for the moment there was no need for a new national lockdown.
(Reporting by GV De Clercq and John Irish; Editing by Alex Richardson and Cynthia Osterman)
