London, Sep. 14, 2020 (AltAfrica)–France has confirmed 10,561 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, according to health authorities.

This is the first time the country has passed the 10,000 mark in a single day, prompting concerns about a resurgence of the disease in the region.

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Authorities confirmed in the last week 2,432 people were admitted to hospital with 417 patients being treated in intensive care.

It comes as Tour de France organisers revealed that authorities will reinforce restrictions on spectators watching the event in coronavirus “red zones” to avoid mass gatherings.

France’s Government vowed to implement additional measure to avoid a national lockdown after cases surged on Thursday.

The nation’s Prime Minister said testing times would speed up to allow one million tests per week and the Government would increase restrictions in Covid-19 hotspots.

Jean Castex, who recently came out of self-isolation after coming into contact with an infected person, said the situation is “obviously worsening”.

“For the first time in many weeks, we are noting a substantial increase in the number of hospitalised people,” he said on Friday.

“The French on Thursday had 9,800 new infections and one can see their hospital admissions and indeed their intensive care admissions are going up.”

He added: “The short answer is the only way to stop the spread of this infection is to reduce the number of people we all come into contact with, that lowers the risk.”