Covid deaths in France surpass 150,000, hospitalisations on rise again

France has now recorded over 150,000 deaths from Covid since the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020, official figures from Santé publique France show.

In the past 24 hours, 74 patients have died of Covid in hospital, bringing the country's total death count to 150,017.

The total surpassed 140,000 on March 11 this year and 100,000 on April 15, 2021.

It comes as the country experiences a seventh wave of the virus, which has caused daily case numbers to surge in recent weeks. There have been on average 123,984 new cases each day over the past week, up 44% from the week before.

Read more: French Covid surge: Recap of rules if you’re positive or close contact

Admissions to hospitals and intensive care units are also increasing, up 39% and 25% respectively compared to last week.

The latest projections from the French research centre the Institut Pasteur suggest that hospitalisations could increase further in the coming weeks, reaching around 1,700 per day by July 18, compared to around 1,000 per day currently.

Read more: What is the profile of patients now in hospital for Covid in France?

France’s health minister, François Braun, has recommended that people wear a mask in crowded places and on public transport.

The government is also preparing to prolong the requirement for travellers to present a Covid health pass when entering France, which is currently set to end on July 31.

Other Covid measures are likely to be reviewed in the coming week and could include extending the use of France’s Covid test database SI-DEP and its system of alerting the close contacts of people with Covid and creating a new committee to monitor and anticipate health risks.

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