aris, Sep 27 (TIWN) The latest coronavirus wave in France could "overwhelm" the country amid exhaustion of the frontline workers battling the pandemic, a senior health official has warned.

“The second wave is arriving faster than we thought,” the Guardian reported on Sunday citing Patrick Bouet, head of the National Council of the Order of Doctors, as saying to the weekly Journal du Dimanche.  Bouet added that last week’s warnings by Health Minister Olivier Veran had not been taken seriously.  On September 23, Veran had warned that restrictions in the “red zones” across the country will be tightened due to a spike in the number of confirmed cases.  Since September 19, 53 departments in the country, where the Covid-19 incidence or the number of positive cases per 100,000 inhabitants over a week is greater than 50, have been classified as “zone of alert” or “red zone”.