France's test positivity rate continues to rise as 30,000 new cases reported

France recorded close to 30,000 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 897,034 since the start of the epidemic. The test positivity rate for the disease rose to 13.2%, continuing its steady daily increase.  

This file photo shows medical workers tending to a Covid-19 patient in Strasbourg. Almost 30,000 new cases of the disease were recorded in France on October 18. © AP - Jean-Francois Badias

According to the French Public Health agency, 29,837 new cases of Covid-19 were identified in the 24 hours to Sunday, with 85 people dying due to the disease. The total death toll in France since the start of the epidemic stands at 33,477. 

The agency stated that the positivity rate of testing stands at 13.2 percent. 

Meanwhile, starting Saturday night, nine metropolitan regions in France have been subjected to a night-time curfew for at least one month to curb the spread of SARS-Cov-2. The measures, which are part of a renewed health state of emergency could be extended to six weeks. 

Un couvre-feu sera instauré de 21h à 6h dans les zones d’état d’urgence sanitaire. pic.twitter.com/hDrckFCt3B

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) October 14, 2020

President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that a curfew from 9pm-6am would be put in place in Ile-de-France (Paris and its 7 surrounding departments), Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne, Aix-Marseille, Toulouse, Montpellier and Rouen. 

France has been placed under a health state of emergency in a bid to slow down the Covid-19 epidemic.