France has had 10,561 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Saturday, a new daily record as the number topped 10,000 for the first time, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.
The latest daily count, surpassing the previous record of 9843 new infections reported on Thursday, highlights a resurgence of the disease in France.
The rise led the government to outline additional measures on Friday to avert a return to the general lockdown put in place earlier in the year. Prime minister Jean Castex promised steps to speed up tests and toughen local measures in high-infection zones. On Friday he said his government was not planning a nationwide lockdown.
The prime minister himself came out of isolation on Saturday after testing negative for COVID-19, a week after being in contact with someone who had a positive result, his office said. Castex had already tested negative for COVID-19 since sharing a car last weekend with the director of the Tour de France cycle race, who later tested positive.