Mobilenews24x7 Bureau

Paris, Jan 19 : France has reported 464,769 new Covid-19 cases, it was announced by the country’s public health agency. This broke the previous daily record of 368,149 cases.

The health agency on Tuesday said that 3,881 Covid-19 patients were being treated in intensive care, accounting for over 70 per cent of the French health system’s current capacity.

Also on Tuesday, French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced two new measures providing government aid to companies that have been struggling due to the pandemic.

The first measure will help small companies (with less than 250 employees) that lost more than 30 per cent of their turnover in December 2021 and January 2022, by covering 20 per cent of their social contributions.

The second concerns companies that lost more than 65 per cent of their turnover, and have asked employees to work part-time. These companies will be exempted from charges normally paid by employers for permanent staff, and will also receive aid equivalent to 20 per cent of their social contribution payments.