Covid-19 infections and hospital cases surge in France

Mr Castex said Marseille, Bordeaux and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe had been particularly badly hit. “What’s especially worrying is that we are noticing a perceptible rise in the number of people being hospitalised,” he said in Paris after an inner cabinet meeting on the crisis. The change in quarantine tactics, which had been predicted by health minister Olivier Véran, reflects an acknowledgment by the government that the 14-day isolation period was longer than necessary and that many people were flouting the rules. “It’s essential that everyone respects strictly this period of isolation, which will be monitored,” Mr Castex said.