French COVID-19 patient numbers rise again, adding to pressure for new lockdown

FILE PHOTO: A woman, wearing a protective face mask, walks with her shopping trolley in a street in Cambrai before new lockdowns imposed during a month-long on Paris and parts of the north after a faltering vaccine rollout and spread of highly contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19) variants in France, March 19, 2021. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of patients with coronavirus in French intensive care units rose on Saturday to a new high for this year, increasing the pressure to impose new restrictions that President Emmanuel Macron says will probably be needed.

France had 4,791 ICU patients being treated for COVID-19, up from 4,766 on Friday, health ministry data showed.