Coronavirus: in France, only hospital deaths have been announced

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In France, 10,176 people are now hospitalized, 2,516 of whom are in intensive care. In 24 hours, there are 240 new deaths, which brings the total death toll to 1,100. But in the coming days this figure could quickly get carried away, because for the moment only deaths in hospitals are counted.

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Deaths in hospital represent only a small part of mortality according to health authorities. Indeed, so far, the official figures only take into account the deaths that hospitals report daily to the Ministry of Health. On Tuesday, for example, 240 people infected with the coronavirus died in hospital.

But this calculation would minimize reality. A sector of particular concern, that of the Ehpad, these establishments scattered all over the territory which house the elderly.

For the moment, no official figure has been made public, but at the national level, the number of deaths in these establishments would already reach several tens or even hundreds.

In the coming days, the Ministry of Health will take into account the figures from the Ehpad. The time, it is said, to set up a computer system to report cases, but also to ensure that it is the coronavirus that is the cause of death.

► Also read: Coronavirus: the 96 hours that rocked France

In addition, comparisons with the mortality rates of previous years will be made in each department in order to know if there is an excess of deaths.

These new calculation methods could well suddenly increase the number of daily deaths linked to coronavirus in France. To have figures more in line with reality, Jérôme Salomon, the director general of Health, announced Tuesday evening that a new counting system would be put in place in particular to trace deaths from establishments hosting elderly people.

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