The number of new coronavirus infections over 24 hours in France rose by 13,750 on Thursday but the number of people hospitalised in intensive care units fell below the 3,000 mark to 2,959, the Health Ministry reported.
Earlier on Thursday Prime Minister Jean Castex said France will not reopen museums, cinemas and theatres next week as planned because COVID-19 infection rates are not falling as fast as the government had hoped.
France was likely to miss a target to bring down new cases of infection to around 5,000 a day by Dec 15, Castex told a news conference.
The number of people in hospital with the virus however fell again on Thursday by 327 to 25,231.
The health ministry also reported the number of people who died of COVID-19 in hospitals rose by 292 over 24 hours to 39,327. The cumulative death toll now stands at 56,940 and the total number of cases at over 2.3 million.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; editing by Diane Craft and Alexandra Hudson)
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