France reports 80 new fatalities due to COVID-19 in 24 hours, total death toll at 26,310
The total death toll due to coronavirus has reached 26,310 in France on Sunday, while hospitalizations and the number of patients in intensive care continued to fall, according to the official data released by the Ministry of Health. A total of 80 people have died in the past 24 hours, the lowest daily increase since March 22, official data showed. The number of new hospitalizations and serious cases continued to slow down, suggesting that the national lockdown put in place in mid-March, is bearing fruit. As of Saturday, 22,614 patients were hospitalized, compared with 22,724 a day before and 23,208 on Thursday. The number of patients in intensive care also fell to 2,812, consolidating an improvement in the ICUs reported in early April. A total of 138,854 people infected by COVID-19 have been identified in France since the start of the pandemic on March 1.
"The epidemic is still active and evolving and the virus is circulating in many areas of the territory. We must continue our efforts to further respect physical distance from at least one meter, all barrier gestures, including wearing a face mask when the distance of one meter cannot be respected and reducing our contacts to the maximum," the ministry said.
"These measures remain essential for the coming weeks. This spirit of responsibility is necessary for the good of all," it added.
France will start to unwind some restriction measures from May 11.
(With Inputs from IANS)
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