Coronavirus variant accounts for up to 20% of cases in Paris - hospital executive

"We were at 6% to 7% on Jan 7, we reached 15% to 20% last week." Salomon said tighter curbs were needed to rein in the pandemic.

The highly contagious variant of the coronavirus first detected in Britain now accounts for up to 20% of infections in the wider Paris region, a leading hospital executive said on Tuesday.

"We have initial results in the Paris region and they are not good", Remi Salomon, head of the medical committee of Paris hospitals group AP-HP told franceinfo radio. "We were at 6% to 7% on Jan 7, we reached 15% to 20% last week."

Salomon said tighter curbs were needed to rein in the pandemic. Last week President Emmanuel Macron held off from imposing a third national lockdown, instead of toughening COVID-19 border controls and reinforcing a nightly curfew.