France: COVID-19 fatalities up, including nursing homes

By Cindi Cook

PARIS (AA) - France saw another difficult day Friday with 588 new recorded deaths from the coronavirus, and 64,338 confirmed cases of infection throughout the country.

According to Jerome Salomon, the director general of health, 27,432 people are currently hospitalized throughout France, with 6,162 people in intensive care. Over 14,000 have returned home after being hospitalized.

The total number of fatalities was also updated to include those in nursing care, a factor left out of earlier tallies. The total number of deaths to date is 6,507, including 5,091 cases in hospitals and 1,416 in nursing homes.

In a televised interview Thursday evening, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe also announced that the lockdown currently imposed on the country will likely go past its original April 15 deadline.

A decision will come over the next few days, as will a strategy for easing the lockdown for various sectors of French society, allowing a return to everyday life based on ages and levels of health within certain populations and certain regions.

With traditional Easter holidays starting Friday, the prime minister urged families to stay put, despite vacation plans already in place and reservations booked.

"There must not be any vacation departures in the coming days," urged Philippe. "All those who are breaking the rules will be sanctioned."

Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, has stepped up the police presence on highways and at train stations to enforce the lockdown and urge families to stay at home. Train service, however, is running but only at 6% of its normal capacity.

Worldwide, there are over 1 million cases of coronavirus with over 58,000 reported deaths. More than 225,000 people have recovered, according to data compiled by the U.S.’ Johns Hopkins University.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms and recover in due time.