PARIS (Reuters) – France has had 10,561 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, health authorities said on Saturday, a new daily record as the number topped 10,000 for the first time.

The latest daily count, surpassing the previous record of 9,843 new infections reported on Thursday, highlights a resurgence of the disease in France.

The rise led the government to outline additional measures on Friday to avert a return to the general lockdown put in place earlier in the year. Prime Minister Jean Castex promised steps to speed up tests and toughen local measures in high-infection zones.

In its daily update, the French health ministry also reported that 772 clusters were being investigated, an increase of 86 in the past 24 hours.

Over the past week, there had been 2,432 arrivals in hospital for COVID-19, including 417 entries into intensive care units, the ministry said.

The death toll since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak this year in French hospitals and nursing homes has reached 30,910, with 17 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, it added.

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Pravin Char)

Copyright 2020 Thomson Reuters.