国际英语新闻:France reports 20,586 new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations continue to fall

PARIS, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- France reported 20,586 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the country's total number of infections to 3,317,333, according to health authorities.

A total of 27,369 people with COVID-19 remained hospitalized, down by 245 from Friday. Admission to intensive care fell for the fourth day in a row to 3,225, 20 fewer than a day before.

Data posted on the government's website on the epidemic indicators showed that 191 fatalities caused by the virus were reported over the past 24 hours, bringing the country's coronavirus-related deaths to 78,794.

France has given 1.86 million people a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine since it launched the vaccination campaign late December 2020. Some 233,274 people have received the second dose so far.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is also underway in some other European countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 238 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 Organization on Tuesday.