Covid-19 has killed 70,000 people in France - it's the seventh highest toll in the world. This was reported by Reuters with reference to government data.
New daily infections has hit a plateau at around 20,000, but the number of people being admitted to hospital and requiring intensive care treatment is still rising.
French government is particularly worried by the more transmissible variant first detected in Britain, which now accounts for about 1% of new cases.
Earlier, the French authorities introduced nationwide curfew. The curfew was brought forward two hours to 6 p.m. and will run until 6 a.m. In addition, from Monday anyone travelling to France from outside the European Union will have to show a negative test result and self-isolate for a week upon arrival.
As we reported, France has begun issuing citizenship to migrants who are involved in the fight against coronavirus. More than 700 have already been granted citizenship or are in the final stages of receiving it.
The country's interior ministry invited residents helping with efforts against Covid-19 to apply for accelerated naturalisation.
The beneficiaries include healthcare professionals, cleaners and shop workers.
Seventy-four people have already been granted a French passport and another 693 are in the final stages. A total of 2,890 people have applied so far.
