(Reuters) – French health authorities said on Monday the number of people hospitalised because of COVID-19 went up by 156 over the past 24 hours, the highest daily rise since Aug. 23, to reach a one-month peak of 6,865.

The number of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) for the disease increased by 40 to 1,141, a ninth rise in 10 days.

President Emmanuel Macron will speak to the nation on Tuesday about the resurgence of COVID-19 infections as well as his economic reform programme.

An additional 2,197 new infections were reported over 24 hours, bringing the total to 7.22 million since the start of the outbreak.

That brings the seven day moving average of new cases – which smoothes out daily reporting irregularities – rose to 7,277, a level unseen since Sept. 18, from a three-month low of 4,172 on Oct. 10.

It had set a 2021 record of 42,225 in mid-April before falling to a 2021 low of 1,816 at the end of June.

France also registered 57 new deaths from the epidemic, taking the COVID death toll to close to 117,950. The seven-day moving average of new fatalities is at 41, a high since Oct 6 versus 25 at the start of the month.

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