PARIS, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- A further 13,215 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in France on Friday, making it the highest number of infections recorded in a single day since the coronavirus outbreak, the country's Public Health Agency said.
In France, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now totals 428,696. Nearly 1,000 clusters are under investigation, of which 93 have been identified in the past 24 hours. The number of serious cases has increased to 571 from 535 the day before, the agency said.
The total number of deaths surged to 31,249, an increase of 123 in the last 24 hours and the biggest daily toll since mid-May, when the country began a gradual de-confinement.
"The viral circulation continues to increase, leading to a clear deterioration of the situation. All indicators for monitoring the COVID-19 epidemic are on the rise," warned the agency.
"At the national level, new hospitalizations, admissions to intensive care units for COVID-19 currently remain moderate compared to the March-April period. But the intensification of the spread of the virus among the oldest age group raises fears of the continuation of hospitalizations and deaths in the weeks to come," it warned.
As the world is in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries across the world -- including China, France, Britain and the U.S. -- are racing to find a vaccine. According to the website of the World Health Organization (WHO), as of Sept. 17, there were 182 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 36 of them were in clinical trials. Enditem
