As the global toll from coronavirus infection approaches one million deaths, and confirmed cases worldwide are set to pass the 30 million mark, the situation in France continues to deteriorate.
According to the most up-to-date figures from the French public health authorities, 20,517 people have died from Covid-19 in the nation's hospitals, with a further 10,528 deaths in nursing homes. The overall death toll remains impossible to estimate.
Nearly 10,000 new cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours, close to the record number for a single day since the beginning of large-scale testing.
Forty-six people died in hospital yesterday, compared to 37 the previous day.
[#COVID19] À partir de 17h00, suivez le point hebdomadaire du ministre @OlivierVeran sur la stratégie de lutte contre le #Coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/u3S2w01m1u
— Ministère des Solidarités et de la Santé (@MinSoliSante) September 17, 2020
Numbers testing positive remain stable
With more than one million tests being carried out in France every week, the sharp rise in the number of positive results is no surprise. The percentage of those testing positive has remained stable at 5.4 percent for the past two weeks.
While all important indicators for the epidemic . . . new cases, hospitalisations, emergency admissions and hospital deaths . . . are currently increasing, the figures remain far lower than those at the peak of the epidemic in April.
Most analysts have warned that it is currently difficult if not impossible to speculate on the long-term evolution of the statistics, especially on the risk of a second wave.
