France’s COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 10,000

Rabat – France became the fourth country in the world to confirm 10,000 deaths related to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, April 7, counting 1,400 deaths in just 24 hours.  

Since March 1, French hospitals have confirmed 7,091 deaths while nursing homes for the elderly have reported 3,237. Some nursing homes have yet to report their figures.  

With 109,069 confirmed cases and 10,328 deaths at the time of writing, France is the 5th hardest-hit country in the world behind Italy, Spain, and the US. The European country’s case count and death toll exceeds those of China and Iran. 

Nearly 20,000 patients have recovered from the virus in France and the country’s health authorities have conducted a total of 224,254 tests for COVID-19. 

France’s Director General of Health Jerome Salomon said 30,000 people are currently hospitalized in the country due to the virus, with 7,131 patients requiring intensive care. 

“We are not yet at the peak. We are in the ascending phase of the epidemic, tackling deconfinement makes no sense. We need strict respect for containment,” Salomon warned on April 7.

France has been in lockdown since March 17. Several French cities have decided to double down on containment measures as people continue to defy restrictions on movement. 

In and around Paris, outdoor sporting activity such as jogging is now prohibited between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

“Every excursion avoided aids the fight against the epidemic,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and police chief Didier Lallement said while announcing the partial jogging ban on April 7.

France is set to “unwind” the lockdown in the days leading up to April 15, but Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the transition will not happen overnight. 

While addressing parliament on April 7, Phillippe acknowledged that the lockdown is difficult for many French people, “But it is essential if we do not wish to find ourselves in an even worse situation than the one we are experiencing today.”