France records 20,177 new Covid-19 cases

France on Saturday reported 20,177 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its accumulative tally to 2,767,312, according to the country's health authorities.

The COVID-19 death toll in the country rose by 168 in the past day to 67,599, the third-highest in Europe after Britain and Italy, and the seventh in the world, showed data posted on the government's website on epidemic indicators.

As of Saturday, a total of 24,273 COVID-19 patients remain hospitalized, down by 137 from the previous day, while 2,609 patients are in intensive care, 6 fewer than Friday's figure.

Meanwhile, 21 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in Britain were identified in a family cluster in the southern department of Bouches-du-Rhone, the region's prefecture announced earlier in the day.

In a bid to contain the virus resurgence, local authorities imposed a curfew at 6 p.m., two hours earlier than a night-time ban already in force across French cities since mid-December.

France has so far reported 40 cases of the highly contagious coronavirus variant first found in Britain and three cases of the variant found in South Africa.

Health Minister Olivier Veran on Thursday said he was taking the threat of these two variants "very seriously," pledging to take all necessary measures "to avoid at all cost the spread of these variants in France."

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in some countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.Meanwhile, 235 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 63 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Orgzation on Jan. 6. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )