Healthcare workers adjust medical equipment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Centre Cardiologique du Nord private hospital in Saint-Denis, near Paris, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in France, May 4, 2021. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
PARIS, Aug 28 (Reuters) – The number of people in French hospital intensive care units due to COVID-19 dipped on Saturday for the first time in nine days, dropping by 11 to 2,259 in total.
Since July 21, the number of patients in critical care had risen continuously, bar a small drop on Aug. 19. This period of rising ICU numbers coincided with a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections, according to the French government.
Vaccinations have picked across France, where the government has also introduced a health pass or official documentation proving that a person has had the vaccine in order to enter restaurants, bars, museums and sports venues.
Thousands of people demonstrated in France on Saturday against the health pass for the seventh weekend in a row, although a majority of French people are now vaccinated.
Reporting by Bertrand Boucey and Sarah White; editing by David Evans
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