France on Tuesday registered a surge in COVID-19 hospitalisations as a rise in new infections in mid-November led to an increase in patient numbers.
The health ministry reported that the number of COVID-19 patients in French hospitals rose by 618 to 12 714, the second-highest net one-day increase this year behind the net increase of 732 on April 6, when the patient tally was above 30 600.
Due to one of Europe’s highest vaccination rates, a rise in new cases now has less impact on hospital numbers than in the spring.
France also reported that the number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units rose by 160 to 2 351, the second-highest increase this year.
On April 6, ICU numbers rose by 193 to 5 626.
On Monday, France reported a seven-day moving average of nearly 43 000 new infections per day, a new high for the year, but the rate of increase has been slowing for over two weeks.
