Paris, Mar 18 (IANS): France will implement stricter rules in more regions, including Paris and its surrounding areas, from this weekend to curb Covid-19 resurgence as daily infections hit the new highest level since November 2020.

"The pandemic situation is deteriorating," Xinhua news agency quoted government spokesperson Gabriel Attal as saying on Wednesday.

"With the virus variants, the situation has changed. It's almost a new epidemic which has started."

Additional measures would be introduced in the most affected territories notably in the greater Paris region, he told a press conference.

In Paris and its surrounding areas, the pandemic situation is reaching a tipping point, with over 1,100 Covid-19 patients filling up the region's intensive care units, forcing transfers of patients to less-strained zones.

"We will be there to make the decisions that we must take," President Emmanuel Macron told health workers during a hospital visit on Wednesday, promising that the new measures would be "pragmatic" and "proportionate".

In the past 24 hours, another 38,501 infections were reported in France, the biggest daily increase since November 17, 2020, when 45,522 new cases were confirmed in a day.

France currently accounts for 4,169,274 confirmed coronavirus cases, with 91,437 deaths, according to the Public Health Agency.

As of Wednesday, 5,585,537 people, or 8.3 per cent of the population have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Some 2,349,027, or 3.5 per cent of the population, have had two jabs.