Coronavirus: France first European country to pass 2 million cases, fourth in world
- France in a second national lockdown to rein in outbreak
- Italy’s daily death toll rose by 731, highest since April 3
France has become the first European country to surpass 2 million coronavirus cases, despite an October 30 nationwide lockdown that has led to a sharp decline in new infections.
Worldwide, the coronavirus has killed at least 1.3 million people and infected at least 55 million since it was first detected in China last December.
France is fourth in the number of infections reported after the United States with 11.2 million cases, followed by India and Brazil. With a death toll topping 46,346 on Wednesday, France ranks seventh in Covid-19 deaths globally and third-highest in Europe after the UK and Italy. France reported 437 more deaths on Tuesday.
Senior French health official Jerome Salomon said that with 33,500 Covid-19 patients in hospitals, the situation was far from good.
France daily tally ‘could be 100,000’ as Europe fights Covid-19 onslaught
“Our collective efforts are starting to bear fruit, the number of new cases has been going down over a few days...We must double down our efforts to regain control of the epidemic,” Salomon said.
“Respecting the curfew and the lockdown explains this positive trend. We must maintain a very high level of vigilance to be able to go through the end-of-the-year festivities and the winter months safely,” he added.
Hospitals were so stretched that 150 patients have been transferred since October 23 to hospitals around France.
Europe has reported nearly 14.5 million Covid-19 cases so far, making it the worst-affected region in the world and accounting for more than 26 per cent of all infections so far.
After hitting a peak of nearly 87,000 new infections in a single day on November 7, the rate in France has dropped sharply with the total reaching a more than one-month low on Monday, at 9,406. The Monday figure tends to dip as there are fewer tests conducted on Sundays.
Can WHO investigation really find the source of the outbreak?
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday the country was regaining control over the coronavirus but was not ready to ease the second national lockdown imposed to rein in the outbreak.
President Emmanuel Macron’s government has set a December 1 target for ending the lockdown, although it might be extended if the numbers do not fall fast enough.
Elsewhere in Europe, Italy reported 731 more coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the highest one-day increase in deaths since early April.
01:51
Coronavirus hunters find new evidence pointing to the virus originating in Italy
There were an additional 32,191 confirmed cases reported, increasing the total infections to 1.2 million. About 15 per cent of people tested in the last 24 hours were positive for the virus, down from about 17 per cent in recent days. That might indicate the recent partial lockdown imposed by the government in much of the country is reining in surging infections.
The British government on Tuesday said another 598 people across the UK died after testing positive for the coronavirus, the highest daily figure since May.
Coronavirus: the cold, hard challenge of delivering vaccines
The daily increase took the country’s total to 52,745, the highest virus-related death toll in Europe. The actual toll is believed to be higher as the government tally only includes those who died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus and doesn’t include those who died without having been tested.
The government also said another 20,051 people tested positive for the virus. That is the lowest level in two weeks and marks the fifth straight daily decline. There have been signs in recent days that the restrictions imposed across the UK, particularly the current lockdown in England, are helping to suppress the virus’ spread.
Global hopes of beating the pandemic were higher after US biotech firm Moderna said its vaccine candidate was nearly 95 per cent effective in a trial, a week after similar results announced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.
Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
