PARIS (Reuters) – France registered more than 20,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Wednesday for the first time since Aug. 25 as the fifth wave of the epidemic picked up speed.
The health ministry reported 20,294 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total to 7.33 million and the seven-day moving average of new cases to over 12,400.
The number of coronavirus patients in hospitals rose by more than 10% week-on-week for the second day in a row, to 7,663 and the number of patients in ICU rose to 1,300, the third day of double-digit week-on-week increases.
(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Geert De Clercq; Editing by Chris Reese)
