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The coronavirus pandemic has now killed more than 7,500 people in France. The last assessment of the authorities, Saturday evening, reported more than 5,500 deaths in hospitals and more than 2,000 in nursing homes. In addition, the French seem to respect the containment measures well, while the government feared many departures on the roads during this first weekend of school holidays.
Worldwide, the death toll has risen to more than 63,000, with a sharp increase in cases in the United States, poised to become the center of the epidemic.
Information to remember
- France has more than 7,500 deaths: more than 5,500 in hospitals and 2,000 in nursing homes
- Containment is "generally well respected" despite the start of the school holidays
- The death toll is more than 63,000 worldwide, with an explosion of cases in the United States
More than 7,500 dead in France
Authorities have recorded more than 7,500 coronavirus deaths in France since the start of the pandemic. In detail, 5,532 people died in hospital, and the Ehpad reported 2,028 deaths, according to still partial data.
6,838 patients are currently in intensive care, or an additional 176 people in one day. 35% of these serious cases are under the age of 60, said Health Director Jérôme Salomon. In total, more than 28,000 people are hospitalized.
Health authorities also recommend that all French people wear a mask when they go outside their home, even though it was deemed useless a few days ago for non-sick people. We explain this change of doctrine in this article .
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Containment "generally well respected", despite school holidays
The government feared massive departures during this first weekend of the school holidays. Fortunately, this does not seem to be the case. Authorities have reported extremely low traffic on the roads, particularly in Île-de-France, where motorists were two to three times less numerous than the previous day. "I think we had to clearly say things so that people do not play on doubt. There, it is clearly prohibited," welcomed Fabienne Buccio, the prefect of Gironde, interviewed by Europe 1. Find our article here .
To dissuade any inclination to go to the coast, tourist accommodation does not have the right to welcome the public in all the coastal towns of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, from Charente-Martime to Pyrénées-Atlantiques, until April 15. 160,000 police and gendarmes are mobilized all weekend to enforce the containment measures.
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Over 63,000 deaths worldwide, surge in cases in the United States
The pandemic has now killed more than 63,000 people and nearly 1.2 million cases worldwide, according to an AFP count. The concern concerns the United States, which exceeded Saturday the bar of 300,000 infected and 8,000 deaths New York State, epicenter of the disease across the Atlantic, announced Saturday 630 new deaths in a day, its worst record over 24 hours.
Europe continues to be the most affected continent, but some signs of improvement have been seen in recent days. Italy has more than 15,000 deaths, but has seen a drop in intensive care patients for the first time since the start of the pandemic. Spain, for its part, has nearly 11,500 deaths, but the number of deaths has dropped for the second consecutive day.
China (excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macao), where the epidemic began in late December, has totaled 81,639 cases, including 3,326 deaths. But the country is accused of having largely underestimated these figures.