French COVID-19 hospitalisations reach two-month high

PARIS (Reuters) - French health authorities said the number of people hospitalised for COVID-19 has gone beyond the 6,000 threshold on Wednesday, a first since July 22 while there are still more than 1,000 patients in intensive care units, levels unseen since the beginning of June.

France has reported soaring COVID-19 infections since the beginning of the month. The renewed strain on the country's hospital system has prompted the government to announce extra restrictive measures on Wednesday, mainly in big cities, to contain the disease.

(This story corrects date to July 22 from July 27 in first paragraph.)

(Reporting by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Chris Reese)