The second coronavirus wave is still present in France, as the continuous trend of drop in COVID-19 cases has halted, French Health Minister, Olivier Veran, said on Monday.
The peak of the second COVID-19 outbreak in France is believed to have been reached on Nov. 7, when nearly 87,000 fresh cases were detected in a day.
The declining trend had been ongoing since late November, but daily numbers of infections have been on the rise since mid-December, showing over 10,000 new cases per day.
“The epidemic situation in France remains fragile because the virus is still circulating too much and it is no longer declining.
“The sanitary pressure remains high.
“The second wave is not yet behind us,’’ Veran wrote on Twitter.
Following the second nationwide lockdown relief, the national authorities have replaced it with a general night curfew from 8.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m. to prevent a surge in COVID-19 cases during the holiday celebrations.
As of Monday, France has reported nearly 2,530,000 coronavirus infections and 60,665 related fatalities.
Similarly, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday said it was necessary to be extra vigilant regarding the fresh discovery of the mutated coronavirus strain in the UK.
Over the weekend, London announced the discovery of a new coronavirus strain that is more contagious than other Sars-Cov-2 variants.
In this regard, many countries suspended travel with the UK, including France, which shut off all travel with the UK for 48 hours.
However, French Secretary of State for Transport, Jean-Baptiste Djebbari, said that the European states would soon introduce a bloc-wide health protocol to resume travel flows with London.
“We must redouble our vigilance,’’ Macron said at an online meeting of the Council of Ministers, as cited by the BFMTV broadcaster.
Notably, the French leader has been working remotely since he self-isolated on Thursday after becoming infected with the virus.
Meanwhile, the UK authorities have introduced the highest level of alert in some areas, locking them down in a bid to prevent the further spread of the mutated coronavirus variant.
The virus has also been detected in several European nations, as well as Australia and South Africa. (Sputnik/NAN)
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