France's new coronavirus cases, hospital numbers drop sharply

A man wearing a protective face mask walks past a closed restaurant in Cannes as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continues in France, November 24, 2020. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of new coronavirus infections and the number of people in hospital with the virus in France dropped sharply as a national lockdown went into its fourth week.

The health ministry reported the number of new cases rose by 9,155 to 2.15 million on Tuesday, compared with 4,452 on Monday - when numbers are usually low due to weekend reporting lags - and compared with 45,522 last Tuesday.