Paris, Mar 8 (IANS): France reported 21,825 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour span, down from Saturday's 23,306, while the surging number of hospitalized patients indicated mounting pressure on the country's health system.

The cumulative number of coronavirus cases in France now stands at 3,904,233, and the total number of fatalities at 88,574, up by 130 in the past 24 hours, according to data posted on the government's website on Sunday, Xinhua news agency reported.

The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients went up again after falling for the previous five days. In the past 24 hours, another 193 people were admitted to the hospital, raising the total of hospitalizations to 24,818. That included 3,743 in intensive care, the highest level since the end of November 2020.

Official data also showed that 3,772,579 people have got at least one shot of vaccines. France aims to inoculate 10 million citizens by mid-April, 20 million by mid-May and a total of 30 million, or two-thirds of the adults, by the summer.

As the world is struggling to contain the pandemic, vaccination is underway in an increasing number of countries with the already-authorized coronavirus vaccines.

Meanwhile, 261 candidate vaccines are still being developed worldwide -- 79 of them in clinical trials -- in countries including Germany, China, Russia, Britain, and the United States, according to information released by the World Health Organization on March 5.