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France records 17,615 new cases, Germany's daily deaths hit new high

Published : 16 Dec 2020, 23:41

  DF News Desk
People wait to ride the merry-go-round in front of the Hotel de Ville town hall in Paris, France, Dec. 15, 2020. Photo: Xinhua.

The following are the latest developments of the COVID-19 pandemic in European countries, reported Xinhua.

PARIS

France's health authorities on Wednesday reported 17,615 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the biggest single-day increase since Nov. 21.

To date, the country has registered a total of 2,409,062 cases, while deaths caused by the respiratory illness rose by 289 within a day to 59,361.

On Wednesday, hospital admissions in France rose by 75 to 25,315, including 2,850 in resuscitation units.

BERLIN

Daily COVID-19 infections in Germany remain near last week's record high and increased by 27,728 on Wednesday to a total of nearly 1.38 million cases, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the federal government agency for disease control and prevention.

The number of deaths related to COVID-19 reached a new record, up by 952 within one day. To date, 23,427 people have died from the disease in Germany.

"The situation is as serious as it has ever been in this pandemic," RKI President Lothar Wieler said at a press conference earlier this week. The number of COVID-19 cases remains too high and the situation may get worse.

LONDON

Another 25,161 people in Britain have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 1,913,277, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The coronavirus-related deaths in Britain rose by 612 to 65,520, the data showed.

Despite a surge in coronavirus cases, the British government has maintained its previous decision to relax restriction rules for Christmas, between Dec. 23 to 27, allowing up to three households to get together in homes and places of worship in England.

LJUBLJANA

Slovenia on Wednesday recorded 2,107 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of confirmed cases to 100,389, according to official figures.

A total of 1,251 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals across the country, 211 of them in intensive care. Thirty-nine new deaths took the toll to 2,190.

Health Minister Tomaz Gantar has said that voluntary mass testing for coronavirus could start in Ljubljana as early as next week prior to the Christmas holiday, with testing to be made available more widely after the New Year holiday.