COVID: France reports over 97k fresh infections in last 24 hours

War against pandemic is still not over. European countries are witnessing a rise in COVID cases. France has reported 97,579 new COVID cases on March 18, leading to increased concerns over a new wave of the pandemic. On March 15, 116,618 cases were recorded amid the ongoing spike. On March 14, the government lifted Covid-19 restrictive measures such as the vaccine pass and the mask mandate in indoor areas.

As of March 15, 83.0% of people aged 65 and over and 74.4% of people aged 80 and over had received a booster shot. In the context of an increase in the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 and influenza viruses, maintaining barrier gestures remains recommended.

As of March 17, the country's overall caseload and death toll stood at 23,946,847 and 141,640, respectively.

France is not alone in registering an uptick in cases, with Germany, Britain, and the Netherlands reporting similar trends. However, like its European peers, the French government is determined to stick to its timetable to lift restrictions.

Amid rising COVID cases in South East Asia and European countries, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday and directed officials to maintain a high level of alertness and surveillance, and carry out genomic sequencing

aggressively. China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, South Korea are among the South East Asian countries witnessing a rise in COVID cases. The two-hour-long meeting was attended by the head of India's COVID-19 task force Dr VK Paul, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, ICMR Chief Dr Balram Bhargava, Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan, and Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.