France Witnesses Surge In COVID Cases After Lifting Lockdown; President Says 'Live With Virus'
In the past 24 hours, France confirmed 3,304 new coronavirus cases, higher than Monday's 1,955, but lower than the post-lockdown daily record of 4,897 posted on Sunday. Some 33 active clusters were detected, bringing the total to 352.
France is registering a fresh spike in new COVID-19 cases after lifting the lockown and easing movement norms across the country.
In the past 24 hours, France confirmed 3,304 new coronavirus cases, higher than Monday's 1,955, but lower than the post-lockdown daily record of 4,897 posted on Sunday. Some 33 active clusters were detected, bringing the total to 352.
A total of 248,158 infections have been identified since the epidemic outbreak, according to the country's Health Public Agency.
In wake of the recent surge in cases, French President Emmanuel Macron called on citizens to learn to live with the coronavirus after infections spiralled higher in recent weeks.
AP
"To overcome the health crisis, we must learn to live with the virus," Macron tweeted on Tuesday, calling on people to show unity and assume responsibility to contain the epidemic resurgence, Xinhua news agency reported.
Pour surmonter la crise sanitaire, nous devons apprendre ¨¤ vivre avec le virus. Il n'y a pas de fatalit¨¦ : si nous faisons preuve d'unit¨¦ et de sens des responsabilit¨¦s, nous r¨¦ussirons.
¡ª Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 25, 2020
Macron said he had chaired a defence council over the epidemic situation "to organise with the best possible conditions taking into account the epidemic evolution," the start of the new academic year and work condition, after social mixing during summer vacation had led to faster virus spread and increasing clusters.
The president pledged "clear rules everywhere to allow everyone to regain confidence."
Health authorities said that France had conducted over 755,000 virus tests over the past week, and over seven million since the start of the epidemic.
