PARIS (Reuters) – France must do everything it can to prevent a new blockage of the coronavirus as pressure builds on hospitals, Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Sunday as the country reported more than 26,000 new cases.
The French government has so far resisted pressure from some health experts to impose a new third lockdown in light of the rising number of cases.
Instead, it has imposed a nationwide 6pm curfew and weekend locks in two regions struggling to contain outbreaks, while major shopping centers had to close.
“We must use all available weapons to avoid a lockdown. I never hid it, let’s get vaccinated, protect ourselves, get tested, ”said Castex in an interview on website Twitch.
The Department of Health reported 26,343 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, down from 29,759 the day before, while the number of people who died from the virus rose by 140 to a total of 90,429.
Meanwhile, the number of people in intensive care units rose by 57 to 4,127, while emergency resuscitation units were running at nearly 82% capacity, the highest since late November, when France was in its second lockdown.
“The situation is not getting any better, there is an increasing number of infections and hospitals are heavily burdened with many patients, whose mean age is getting lower and who do not always have comorbidities,” said Castex.
The government plans to transport about 100 patients by air or special trains from the Paris region to other cities this week to ease the pressure on hospitals in the capital.
Labor Secretary Elizabeth Borne said on Sunday that she had tested positive for COVID-19 and would continue to work, the last senior French official to contract the virus.
Meanwhile, France’s vaccination program is gaining momentum with the 67,134 first shots on Sunday, bringing the total to 5,128,872 or 7.7% of the population, the Ministry of Health said. As of Sunday, approximately 2,239,389 have received both injections.
Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Jean-Stephane Brosse; Editing by Edmund Blair and Jane Merriman