French health authorities say France has reached over 1 million confirmed virus cases amid pandemic’s second wave

PARIS (AP) — French health authorities say France has recorded over 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, becoming the second country in Western Europe after Spain to reach that number of known infections. The national health agency released new figures showing that tests had confirmed at least 1,041,075 cases in France this year, including 42,032 new cases in 24 hours. Experts say the actual infections are probably much higher than the numbers governments around the world are reporting because of a lack of tests early in the pandemic and asymptomatic cases. Like other countries, France has seen its daily case counts rise sharply in recent weeks as the virus rebounds in Europe.