France reports nearly 20,000 new coronavirus cases, 122 deaths

PARIS - France registered 19,952 new coronavirus infection cases and 122 related deaths in the past 24 hours, according to figures released by the Public Health Agency on Sunday.

The cumulative number of coronavirus cases in France now stands at 3,755,968, and the total number of fatalities at 86,454 since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.

Over the past seven days, 9,613 COVID-19 patients were in the hospital, of whom 1,871 were put on ventilators, the agency added.

In an interview with Le Journal de Dimanche (JDD) on Sunday, Jerome Salomon, director-general of public health, said the virus variant first detected in Britain now became dominant in France, with 53 percent of positive cases attributable to this more infectious strain.

The first case of this virus in France was spotted on Dec 26, 2020, prompting the country to impose travel restrictions.

"The situation is obviously very tense but the government has taken strong braking measures, notably the curfew, which is working very well," Salomon said. "We can still avoid confinement if everyone is mobilized."

As of Feb 27, 2,967,937 people in France have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. France aims to inoculate all the citizens aged over 65 by the end of May and all adults before September.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 255 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide - 73 of them in clinical trials - in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Feb 23.