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As the coronavirus continues to spread in France, a new milestone was reached on Thursday, with the largest increase in confirmed cases in a day since the start of the crisis. Three new deaths have indeed been announced, while the Ministry of Health said that 423 cases were now confirmed, 138 more than Wednesday.
The main information
- 138 new cases were announced Thursday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 423 since January. 7 people died
- Many events continue to be canceled in France, such as the Paris marathon, postponed to October
- In Italy, the situation is getting worse. The country has registered 41 deaths in 24 hours
423 confirmed cases in France
138 new cases were announced Thursday evening by the Ministry of Health, as well as a seventh death on the territory. "In France, today at 4 p.m., 423 confirmed cases, 138 more than yesterday," announced Health Director General Jérôme Salomon during his daily press briefing. "We now have seven people dead, six men and one woman," he added. Two new deaths had already been announced in the middle of the day: a 73-year-old from Oise and a 64-year-old from Aisne. Among the sick, 23 are in serious condition and hospitalized in intensive care, eight more than the day before, said Jérôme Salomon.
Thirteen metropolitan regions are now affected, as are Guadeloupe and French Guiana in overseas regions. Only Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion are exempt from proven cases. The Oise, with 105 cases, is the most important grouping situation of the six. At least two of the three new deceased victims were linked to Crépy-en-Valois, where the first death of a French patient had been recorded, said the Regional Health Agency (ARS).
Macron says "inexorable" epidemic
Emmanuel Macron received twenty specialists at the Élysée. At the end of this meeting, the President of the Republic ruled that an epidemic of coronavirus was "in any case inexorable". Present among the specialists received, the expert Jean-François Delfraissy, representative of the REACTing network which coordinates research on the coronavirus, told him that the transition to "stage 3" would be reached "in a few days, one or two weeks maximum" .
Many measures taken, the Paris marathon canceled
France remains for the moment in phase 2. And the measures announced by the government last weekend were confirmed by a decree published Thursday. Among these measures is the ban on gatherings of more than 5,000 people in an enclosed environment. The Paris marathon, scheduled for April 5, has been postponed to October 18.
In Italy, 41 deaths in 24 hours
In Italy, where the government has decided to close all schools and universities from Thursday, the situation has worsened. The country has recorded 41 deaths from coronavirus in 24 hours, bringing the total to 148 deaths. The number of confirmed cases since the start of the epidemic which started around February 20, amounted to 3,858, compared to 3,089 the previous day, an increase of 25%.
Italy is the third most affected country in the world behind China and South Korea. Worldwide, 97,510 cases have been known since the start of the epidemic, including 3,346 deaths, in 85 countries and territories, according to an AFP count established from official sources Thursday at 6 p.m.