France's single-day COVID-19 infections hit new high at 18,746

France reported on Wednesday 18,746 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, a new high in single-day cases, according to figures released by the country's Public Health Agency, reported Xinhua.

The previous one-day record of 16,972 new cases was registered on Oct. 3.

The accumulative total of infections in France now stands at 653,509, while the human loss caused by the coronavirus was up to 32,445, with 80 reported on Wednesday, compared with 65 deaths on Tuesday.

Some 4,625 patients were hospitalized over the last seven days, including 919 in intensive care units.

The agency's data showed that 1,267 clusters are under investigation, of which 96 were detected in the past 24 hours.

As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the globe -- including France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- are racing to find a vaccine.

According to the website of the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Oct. 2, there were 193 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 42 of them were in clinical trials.