PARIS, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said 22 schools were closed in France due to cases of COVID-19.
“In mainland France there are currently 12 schools closed out of a total of over 60,000, which is a small figure. Adding 10 schools in La Reunion (island), that makes it 22,” Blanquer told Europe 1 radio.
As over 12 million pupils returned to school in France on Tuesday, some parents and teachers’ unions have voiced concern at plans for reopening classrooms as the spread of the virus gathers renewed pace.
The health ministry reported that the cumulative total of confirmed cases rose to 300,181, up by 7,157, just shy of a 7,578 record set on Mar 31 during lockdown. It had reported an increase of 7,017 cases on Wednesday and first reached the 7,000 level again last week.
While the lockdown record for daily infections has not yet been broken, the seven-day moving average – which smooths out daily reporting irregularities – rose to 5,783, and is above the record set during lockdown for a seventh day.
During lockdown, which ran from Mar 17 to May 10, the seven-day moving average of new infections set a high of 4,537 on Apr 1.
The number of people in intensive care with the disease rose again for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, up by 18 to 464, and the number of people in hospital also rose for a fifth day in a row, up 11 to 4,643.
The death toll increased by 20 to 30,706, the fourth consecutive day of a double-digit death toll.
