The number of Covid patients in French hospitals has now dropped below 22,000, but the number of infections continues to rise, health authorities said, while the government prepares to further lift Covid restrictions, such as masks in workplaces, as of next Monday, reports Radio France Internationale.
French hospitals had 21,208 Covid patients on Tuesday (1,312 admissions over the previous 24 hour period), compared to 22,208 on Monday.
Intensive care wards reported 2,036 patients (125 new admissions) on Tuesday compared to 2,079 on Monday.
Covid-related deaths in hospitals over the last 24 hours rose to 167, bringing the national total to 139,618 since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago.
However, the number of positive Covid cases has conversely jumped up to 93,050 compared to 79,794 one week ago, according to Santé Publique France. These figures had previously showed a decline at the end of January.
This works out as a seven day average of 54,609 cases on Tuesday compared to 52,715 on Monday.
Vaccination levels have remained stable but have tapered off. Over 54 million French people have received at least one dose (80.4% of the population), and nearly 53.3 million are completely vaccinated (79% of the population) and 39.21 million have received one booster shot, the health authorities said.