LIVE
Three months to the day after the first alert by the World Health Organization to unexplained lung diseases in China, France recorded on Tuesday a new record increase in the number of coronavirus deaths: nearly 500 in 24 hours, one death every three minutes. According to the latest report from the French authorities, the epidemic has killed 3,523 people in total, including 499 since Monday. Follow the situation live.
Information to remember:
- The epidemic killed 3,523 in France, according to the latest assessment
- Coronavirus has killed more than 41,000 people worldwide
- As the United States prepares to face an epidemic wave, the first deaths linked to the virus are multiplying on the African continent
A situation "totally new in the history of French medicine"
Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon announced Tuesday evening that the Covid-19 has caused the death of an additional 499 people in the past 24 hours, a new record increase. This brings the death toll to 3,523 deaths. In addition, the number two of the ministry clarified that 52,128 cases have been confirmed on French soil, while 22,757 people are currently hospitalized (+1,749 in 24 hours), including 5,564 in intensive care (+457). Since the start of the epidemic, 9,044 people have been discharged from the hospital.
"This situation is completely new in the history of French medicine," said Professor Salomon. Among all people in intensive care, 34% are under 60 and 60% are between 60 and 80, he said. 68 of them are under 30 years old.
"To date, 288 heavy patients have been transferred to less stressed regions and this number is set to increase in the days and weeks to come," also said Jérôme Salomon. Tuesday evening, 21 cross-border transfers were underway from the Grand Est to Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland. Jérôme Salomon also confirmed "the departure tomorrow of two medical TGVs from Paris to Brittany for 36 serious patients from Île-de-France".
Over 41,000 dead worldwide
The new coronavirus pandemic has killed at least 41,072 people worldwide since its appearance in December in China, according to a report drawn up Tuesday evening by AFP from official sources. More than 828,340 cases of infection have been officially diagnosed in 186 countries and territories since the start of the epidemic. This number of diagnosed cases, however, only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, with a large number of countries now testing only those cases requiring hospital care. Among these cases, at least 164,900 are today considered cured.
In the past 24 hours, 4.396 new deaths and 70.404 new cases have been reported worldwide. The countries with the most new deaths are Spain with 849 new deaths, Italy (837) and the United States (612).
Italy remains the country where the pandemic has claimed the most victims
Italy, which recorded its first death linked to the coronavirus at the end of February, has 12,428 deaths for 105,792 cases. 837 deaths and 4,053 new cases were announced there Tuesday. 15,729 people are considered cured by the Italian authorities.
After Italy, the most affected countries are Spain with 8,189 deaths for 94,417 cases, France with 3,523 deaths (52,128 cases), the United States with 3,440 deaths (174,467 cases) and mainland China with 3,305 deaths ( 81,518 cases). China (excluding the territories of Hong Kong and Macao), where the epidemic began at the end of December, counted in total 81,518 cases (48 new between Monday and Tuesday), including 3,305 deaths (1 new) and 76,052 cures.
Since Monday, Trinidad and Tobago, Burma, Tanzania, Mauritania, Côte d'Ivoire and Belarus, have announced the first deaths linked to the virus on their soil. Burundi and Sierra Leone have announced the diagnosis of the first cases.
>> PODCAST - Coronavirus: find all the answers to your questions here
The United States on the warpath
In number of cases, the United States is the most affected country, with 174,467 officially registered infections, including 3,440 deaths and 6,038 cured. The country, however, expects an epidemic wave within seven to 21 days.
The epicenter of the epidemic on American soil, New York has undergone a metamorphosis in recent hours to be able to treat tens of thousands of patients suffering from coronavirus. After eight days of work by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Javits Center in Manhattan is now operational, with nearly 3,000 beds for coronavirus patients. allow hospitals to focus on the epidemic.
Other sites have been identified throughout the first American metropolis to serve as a hospital, including one of the buildings of the Flushing Meadows tennis complex, in the district of Queens, as well as hotels to be able to isolate infected people, but not seriously ill.
Worst global crisis since 1945, says UN chief
The Covid-19 pandemic is the worst global crisis since the Second World War, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday, expressing concern that more conflicts may arise in the world. The current crisis is, he said, "the combination of a threatening disease for everyone and an economic impact leading to an unprecedented recession in the recent past".
According to him, the international community is still far from the point as for this solidarity because the mobilizations are mainly the fact so far of the developed countries to support their economies. "We are far from having a global system to help developing countries eliminate the disease while managing the dramatic consequences for populations, in terms of job losses, the disappearance of small businesses and the end of informal trade" .
The United Nations created a new fund on Tuesday for developing countries after last week appealing for donations for poor and conflict-affected countries. Beyond traditional aid from rich countries to the poor, "we have to find innovative financial instruments" that will "create mechanisms so that developing countries can respond to the crisis," said Antonio Guterres. Otherwise, the pandemic could return to a "boomerang" in rich countries from poor countries, notably via Africa, he estimated, reaffirming that the disease could cause "millions" of deaths.
CORONAVIRUS ESSENTIALS
> Paid leave, RTT, sick leave: what changes the state of health emergency
> What do we know about chloroquine, the treatment that is debating?
> What to do if you are sick, but not coronavirus?
> Why you will have to be patient to be reimbursed for a canceled trip
> Homemade bread, short circuits ... Our solutions to continue to eat well during confinement
> Sex: how to manage abstinence during confinement?