France records 26,343 coronavirus infections in past 24 hours

Paris [France], March 15 (ANI/Xinhua): France registered 26,343 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours while coronavirus-linked hospitalizations went up again, according to data released by the health authorities on Sunday.
The country now recorded an accumulative total of 4,071,662 COVID-19 cases. Some 90,429 patients have succumbed to the respiratory illness.
After fourth successive daily fall, the number of COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized went up again. Some 318 more people were admitted to hospitals in one day, bringing the total to 24,989. That included 4,127 cases in intensive care, up by 57.
The data showed that some 5,072,244 people in France have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.
Meanwhile, 263 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 81 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on Friday. (ANI/Xinhua)