France records another 23,337 COVID-19 cases, 404 deaths in one day - China.org.cn

France counted another 23,337 coronavirus cases and 404 deaths in the past 24 hours, health authorities' figures showed on Tuesday.

To date, the country has registered a total of 3,224,798 cases and 77,238 fatalities.

Over the last seven days, 11,263 people with COVID-19 were treated in hospitals, including 1,830 in intensive care.

About 2,000 cases of the more contagious variant first found in Britain are spotted per day in France. The circulation of the new strain is intensifying by 50 percent every week, according to Health Minister Olivier Veran.

In Paris region, between 15 and 20 percent of new infections were attributable to the new strain last week, compared with 6 percent on Jan. 7, warned Remi Salomon, president of the medical commission of the Public Assistance-Hospitals of Paris (AP-HP).

"It's an exponential growth," he told France Info radio. "And since it is 40 to 70 percent more contagious, there will be an acceleration of the epidemic if we do not significantly do anything more. This is what scares us."

The French government has ordered stricter rules. Since Sunday, the country has closed its borders to all passengers outside the European Union (EU), except for essential travel, while arrivals from other EU states have to show a negative coronavirus test. Large shopping malls shut down and police patrols are increased to enforce a curfew starting from 6.p.m.

"The measures taken today will not be sufficient," Salomon said. He called for extending the two-week February school breaks, which due to start on Saturday in some French regions, by at least one week, and to further encourage teleworking to halt the virus transmission...