France new COVID-19 cases spike again, uptick in ICU units

France's new COVID-19 infections rose by more than 1,600 over 24 hours for the second day running on Thursday, putting the country at levels not seen since late May, while the number of affected patients in intensive care units has also risen.

At 1,604, the daily tally of new cases is lower than Wednesday's 1,695, but still not far from the May, 30 figure of 1,828 cases. The total number of cases has reached 195,633.

The seven-day moving average of new cases, now standing at 1,351, has risen on all but one day over the last 11 days, spiking by almost 50% over that period.

The 1,351 figure is five times higher than a low point of 272 seen on May 27 but also more than three times less than a April 1 peak of 4,537.

Despite the surge in new cases, the number of people hospitalised for the disease kept going down, by 88 to 5,060, extending a 10-week-long trend.

Nevertheless, the number of people in ICUs was up by six, at 390, reaching a 10-day high.

French health authorities reported seven additional deaths from the disease, bringing the total to 30,312, the seventh-highest in the world.