PARIS: French health authorities on Monday reported 13,243 new COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, sharply down from Saturday's record of 32,427 and Sunday's 29,837.

The Monday figure tends to dip as there are fewer tests conducted on Sundays. The seven-day moving average of new infections, which averages out weekly data reporting irregularities, stood above the record 23,000 level for the second time in a row.

The number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 infections rose by 146 to 33,623, versus 85 on Sunday. The cumulative number of cases now totals 910,277, with the country becoming the eighth in the world to have more than 900,000 cases.