French Cabinet to discuss Covid-19 measures on Tuesday

The cabinet will meet via videoconference to discuss the health state of the nation - notably in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Grand Est, where cases are highest, the public service media Franceinfo reports.

Officials are also concerned about Covid-19 levels in the Alpes-Maritimes, where the mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi was due to hold a local public health council meeting on Monday.

Even as the first vaccines were administered in France on Sunday, Health Minister Olivier Véran told the Journal du Dimanche this weekend that a third lockdown - as recommended by a number of experts - was on the table for discussion, along with a number of other options to contain and control a feared post-holiday spike in the number of cases.

Read more: First case of new Covid-19 variant detected in France

A total 8,822 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in France on Sunday, along with a total 173 deaths. The number of hospitalisations rose 176 to 24,653. Of those, 2,659 patients were in intensive care, a rise of 10 on the previous day.

Officials warned that the number of new cases is artificially low because numerous test centres have been closed over the Christmas weekend.

Read more: Coronavirus, lockdown and new rules in France: Daily updates