France reports intensifying rise in new COVID-19 cases

A total of 1,062 people tested positive for COVID-19 and 10 new clusters of infection were identified in the last 24 hours in France, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday, noting an intensifying rise in new cases, reported Xinhua.

The ministry's weekly update on the epidemic showed that the number of new cases increased by 26 percent compared to last week, higher than 18 percent and 11 percent in the previous two weeks.

In total, 570 clusters of infection have been identified -- 209 of them still active -- since May 9 when the country started a gradual easing of lockdown.

"This underlying trend indicates that our recent habits have been promoting the circulation of the virus for several weeks already," warned the ministry, urging people to stop relaxing the application of barrier gestures.

As of Thursday, 30,182 people in France have lost their lives to the virus. In total, 5,957 people remain hospitalized, including 436 in intensive care, nine less than Wednesday.

On a weekly basis, 83 new patients were admitted to intensive care last week, up from 78 in the previous week. The ministry noted that this figure "has stopped decreasing for a second consecutive week."