France reported 21,703 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Thursday, down from 25,379 on Wednesday but still very far from the government's target of fewer than 5,000 daily additional infections.
France will keep its restaurants, cinemas and ski resorts closed while it cranks up its COVID-19 vaccination rollout because the coronavirus is still spreading too fast and hospitals remain under severe pressure, Prime Minister Jean Castex said earlier on Thursday.
The Health Ministry also reported 277 new coronavirus deaths in hospitals against 283 on Wednesday.
New hospitalisations for the disease over the past seven days stood at 7,736, including 1,171 in intensive care units.
The coronavirus has claimed 66,841 lives in France, the seventh-highest death toll in the world.
The toll of cumulative cases now stands at 2,727,321, the fifth-highest in the world.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Editing by Chris Reese and Peter Cooney)
