PARIS, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- French Health authorities on Monday said 8,505 positive coronavirus cases were confirmed within 24 hours, sharply down from Sunday's 16,101, while coronavirus-related hospitalization data showed growing pressure on hospitals.

The numbers of news cases usually go lower on Mondays because tests are fewer or data is not fully collected on Sundays. On Saturday, France saw 26,896 new infection cases, setting a new all-time high.

As of Monday, the cumulative number of people who have caught the virus totals 743,479 in France since the epidemic outbreak, of whom 32,825 have died, representing a one-day increase of 96 versus 46 a day before.

The number of patients who are receiving treatment in hospital surged to 8,671, up from 8,252 on Sunday.

Early Monday, two more cities in southern France -- Toulouse and Montpellier -- joined the list of maximum alert zones, which include Paris and its inner suburbs, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Guadeloupe, an overseas region.

In those zones, where the incidence rate exceeds 250 people per 100,000 inhabitants and over 30 percent of beds in intensive care units are occupied with COVID-19 patients, the authorities have already announced additional restrictive rules.

That includes closure of bars, pools and gyms, tougher health protocol in restaurants, cinemas and theaters. Attendance to public events is cut from 5,000 to 1,000 and gatherings of more than 10 people are prohibited in public spaces such as beaches and parks.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Jean Castex warned that the country was witnessing "a strong second wave," saying that "there can no longer be any relaxation" to contain the epidemic.

"Nothing is excluded," he said, adding further restrictions may be decided next two weeks "if health indicators deteriorate a lot and resuscitation beds are occupied even more than expected."

President Emmanuel Macron will speak about the health crisis in a television interview on Wednesday evening.

As the world is struggling to control the pandemic, countries across the globe -- among them France, China, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- are racing to find a vaccine.

According to the website of the World Health Organization, as of Oct. 2, there were 193 COVID-19 candidate vaccines being developed worldwide, and 42 of them were in clinical trials. Enditem

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