France reports 23,924 new Covid-19 cases in a day; tally up at 3.03 mn

France on Saturday reported 23,924 new cases of Covid-19 infection in a 24-hour span, raising the country's cumulative number of confirmed cases to 30,35,181, official data showed.

In the 24 hours, a further 230 people had succumbed to the disease in France, bringing the total death toll to 72,877, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Currently, 25,900 Covid-19 patients are receiving treatment in hospitals, representing a one-day drop of eight. Of those hospitalised, 2,896 need life support, down by six in one day.

So far, one million people in France have received anti-coronavirus vaccine jab, according to the Health Ministry.

The government targets to vaccinate 1.4 million vulnerable people and frontline health workers by the end of January, before extending the vaccination to nearly half of the country's 67 million population as of late May.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in France and other countries with the already-authorised Covid-19 vaccines.

Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 64 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the US, according to information released by the World Health Organization on January 22.

--IANS

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