France reports close to 60,000 new daily COVID cases

PARIS - France on Sunday reported 58,432 new confirmed coronavirus cases in a 24-hour period, a figure much lower than the previous four days, when daily additional infections were over 200,000,

On days following a public holiday - as New Year's Day was - new reported cases tend to dip, so the sharp drop does not necessarily indicate a change of trend.

The seven-day moving average of new cases in France, which smoothes out daily reporting irregularities, reached a new all-time high of 162,041, - jumping almost fivefold in a month.