Paris, Jan 26 (IANS): France has reported 445 new Covid-19 related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities to 73,494, health authorities' data showed on Monday.

Meanwhile, 4,240 people tested positive for Covid-19 within one day, bringing the country's cumulative number of infections to 30,57,857, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Hospital admissions surged by 531 to 26,924. Some 3,041 resuscitation beds were occupied by Covid-19 patients, a single day rise of 76, according to figures posted on the government's coronavirus information website.

It is the first time since December 9 that the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care exceeded 3,000.

"These indicators are worrying," warned Prime Minister Jean Castex on Monday.

"Decisions will have to be taken this week," he told reporters on the sidelines of a visit to the regional health agency of Ile-de-France.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in France and some countries with the already-authorised coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 237 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 64 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain and the US, according to information released by the World Health Organization on January 22.