French prime minister Jean Castex called on citizens to be prudent to prevent the spread of COVID-19, announcing measures to create more efficient testing and tracing capacity in the country, reports Euronews.
It comes after the country recorded nearly 10,000 new cases in a single day on Thursday, a record high since the beginning of the pandemic.
President Emmanuel Macron had promised that new measures would give some “visibility” about the weeks to come.
Yet after a defence council meeting, the prime minister appealed to French people to continue to use preventive behaviours, such as physical distancing and wearing a mask, while announcing few new measures to combat the virus' spread.
"Our strategy is not changing. Fight the virus without putting aside our social, cultural and economic life, the education of our children and our capacity to live normally," Castex said.
Noting that there has been a large wait in certain cities, laboratories will now prioritise people who are symptomatic or contacts of positive COVID-19 cases ahead of others, Castex said, adding that the government would hire 2,000 additional contact tracers.