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PARIS: France reported 7,379 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Friday (August 28), the most since the shutdown, in what the Health Ministry described as an exponential increase just days before millions of children return to school for first time since March.
The daily count was just shy of the 7,578 record set on March 31, at the peak of an initial wave of COVID-19 infections that paralyzed Europe. The increase has raised the possibility that the government will be forced to shut down the country again.
“We are doing everything possible to avoid another lockdown, and in particular a nationwide lockdown,” President Emmanuel Macron told reporters on Friday. He added that it would be dangerous to rule out any scenario.
In a weekly review of the pandemic, the Health Ministry said the country was experiencing an “exponential progression of virus transmission.”
READ: France will make face masks mandatory everywhere in Paris
Like other hard-hit western European countries, France imposed a sudden and strict lockdown in March, during which most residents were confined to their homes. The restrictions were gradually lifted starting May 11 after infections dropped dramatically.
Authorities are now looking for ways to limit the spread of the disease without a new lockdown. On Friday, Parisians were ordered to wear masks at all times outdoors in the capital.
The reopening of schools on Tuesday of next week has been widely anticipated as a big step toward normalcy. More than 12 million children will return to school, most for the first time in more than five months.
READ: The second wave of COVID-19 could hit France in November
So far, the rapid increase in the number of cases has yet to lead to a similar increase in hospitalizations or deaths. The ministry reported 20 new deaths from COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the cumulative total to 30,596. The number of people hospitalized with the disease was unchanged at 4,535 and the number in intensive care increased from six to 387.
Authorities say the virus is now spreading among younger people who are less likely to show severe symptoms.
Two weeks after France’s lockdown ended on May 11, the number of new daily infections fell to a low of 115 and a seven-day average low of 272. But as the country gradually reopened restaurants, museums and centers commercial, the number of new infections was confirmed. cases jumped to around 500 a day in late June.
That doubled to around 1,000 a day in late July, doubled again to around 2,000 in mid-August, and jumped above 5,000 this week.
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