France records 20,262 more COVID-19 cases, 159 more deaths in last 24 hours

FILE PHOTO: A medical worker, wearing a protective suit and face mask, administers a nasal swab to a patient at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing centre in Le Bignon, France, December 22, 2020. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

PARIS (Reuters) – France registered 20,262 new, confirmed COVID-19 cases and 159 more related deaths in hospitals in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, as fears of a new wave of the virus mount in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.

France’s number of confirmed COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,547,771 while its COVID-19 death toll stands at 62,427 – the seventh-highest in the world.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Hugh Lawson

source: reuters.com