A total of 18,746 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in France over the latest 24-hour recording period, an all-time daily high for the country, the nation’s health authorities announced on Wednesday.
The amount of new cases almost doubled compared to Tuesday when 10,489 infections were registered. The overall number of cases in the country since the start of the pandemic has now reached 653,509.
An additional 80 people had succumbed to the disease during the previous day, according to Wednesday’s update, putting the cumulative death toll at 32,445.
Meanwhile the number of Covid-19 patients being treated at French hospitals now stands at 7,500 – a 65 percent increase compared to August.
The government introduced new restrictions countrywide, in an attempt to stem the second wave of the virus, and the Covid-19 alert was raised to its maximum level in Paris. Bars in the capital have been ordered to close at 10pm and swimming pools and gyms shut have down for two weeks.
More than 4,000 coronavirus cases have been recorded in Germany in a 24-hour period, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) said, as Berlin adds more European states to the list of Covid-19 risk areas.
On Thursday, the country’s infectious disease agency reported 4,058 new coronavirus infections, compared to 2,828 the previous day. It’s the highest daily total for Germany since the height of the pandemic in late March and early April. At that time, there were over 6,000 new daily infections.
However, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Thursday that Germany “won’t get to the situation we had in March or April.”Few cases came from shops, hairdressers and public transport, he said, adding the main problems were social gatherings, while schools and nurseries were coping relatively well.
The capital, Berlin, and the financial hub of Frankfurt have imposed a curfew on evening entertainment to curb the spread of new infections.
