France becomes 4th country to have over 10,000 COVID-19 deaths

As France entered its fourth week of lockdown, the coronavirus epidemic still hit hard, claiming on Tuesday 1,417 more deaths in hospitals and nursing homes, making the combined fatalities at 10,328, a French health official said.

Data unveiled by General Director of Health Jerome Salomon showed a fresh daily record of deaths in hospital where 607 people have succumbed to COVID-19 on Tuesday, representing a daily increase of 9.4 percent to a cumulative total of 7,091, compared with a 10 percent rise registered on Monday.

The human loss caused by the epidemic had also risen in retirement homes. Some 3,237 have died since early March, up from Monday’s 2,417.

Less than two months after the first COVID-19 death, an 80-year-old tourist from China, was reported on Feb. 14, France now became the fourth country globally after Italy, Spain and the United States to report more than 10,000 deaths.

However, pressure was easing in intensive care units thanks to slowing rise in serious cases and a growing number of cured patients.

Some 30,000 are now receiving treatment in hospitals, including 7,131 who need to be put on ventilator, a one-day increase of 59 compared with 94 on Monday.

“It is an important indicator which allows us to assess the tension in hospitals and the need to mobilize all the human and logistical resources,” Salomon said.

Also, the number of people who have recovered “is increasing every day,” the official noted. In total, 19,337 patients in France have come out of hospital cured.