PARIS:France reported nearly 17,000 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Saturday, about 5,000 more than on the previous day, setting a new daily record.

The number of infections rose by 16,972 to a total of 606,625 cases, the health ministry said, more than the previous record of 16,096 registered last week.

The number of deaths increased by 49 to 32,198.

There were 4,087 new cases of people being hospitalised over the last seven days, including 849 in intensive care units. The figures are relatively stable compared with the previous report on Friday.

The rate of positive coronavirus tests in France rose to 7.9% from 7.7% on Friday.