COVID-19: Death toll in France rises to 372

By Yusuf Ozcan

PARIS (AA) - Death toll from coronavirus in France hit 372, with 108 deaths confirmed in the past 24 hours, according to the country’s health authorities on Thursday.

Jerome Salomon, the head of French health agency, said during a press conference that the number of COVID-19 cases was 10,995.

Salomon said that a total of 1,112 people were in serious condition.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron accused those who do not abide movement restrictions in the country to fight the virus, saying that people were still going to parks, and beaches as well as to open markets: “[They] don’t get the message.”

Earlier this week, Macron announced a 15-day countrywide lockdown.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to at least 160 countries and territories. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.

Out of more than 236,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 9,700, and over 84,500 have recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.

Despite the rising number of cases, most who become infected suffer only mild symptoms and recover.

* Writing by Handan Kazanci in Istanbul