PARIS: France reported 20,489 new conformed coronavirus infections on Tuesday, nearly double the 11,395 reported last week Tuesday and more than five times the 4,022 reported on Monday, which usually sees a drop in numbers due to weekend reporting lags.

The rolling seven-day moving average of cases rose to 15,171, the highest level since Nov. 24 and the cumulative total rose to 2.68 million, the sixth-highest in the world, health ministry data showed.

France, which is stepping up its COVID-19 vaccine rollout after being criticized for a slow start, saw the number of patients in hospital with the virus fall again by 91 to 24,904 after seeing that total increase three consecutive days.

The number of people in intensive care also fell again by 41 to 2,625 after a six-week downtrend stabilised over the weekend.

The COVID-19 death toll - which included 522 retirement home deaths over the past week - rose by 867 to 66,282, the seventh-highest in the world.