France has become the third country in Europe to over take China’s coronavirus death toll after recording the biggest daily jump in fatalities since the outbreak began.
Health authorities announced an increase of 499 deaths of patients with coronavirus in the country’s hospitals on Tuesday, bringing the total numberto 3,523.
The French death toll includes only those who died in hospital and not those who died at home or in old people’s homes, meaning the true figure is likely to be much higher.
In China, where Covid-19 first emerged in December, 3,309 died of the infection, according to figures from the John Hopkins Resource Centre, which has been tracking global death rates and cases.
Earlier this month Italy, followed by Spain, overtook China as the worst hit region for coronavirus deaths.The US, which has the most cases globally, has also had more fatalities than in China, with 3,440 recorded.
As authorities in Europe warn the worst is yet to come, life in Wuhan, the global source of the outbreak, is gradually returning to normal with borders reopening and metro services resuming.
By stark comparison, France is transferring Covid-19 patients to hospitals overseas as the country’s healthcare system becomes overwhelmed by a surge in cases.
State health agency director Jérôme Salomon told a news conference that the number of cases had risen to 52,128, a rise of 17% in 24 hours. He said the jump was probably due to the fact that France has been ramping up testing.
Salomon said 5,565 people were in a serious condition needing life support, up 9% compared to Monday, a rate of increase slightly slower compared to previous days.
France has increased the number of beds in intensive care units from 5,000 to about 10,000 since the start of the crisis and it is scrambling to reach 14,500.
Residents are enduring their third week of lockdown to slow the spread of the virus and today is the third consecutive day the rate of deaths has accelerated.
The UK lags Italy, Spain and France in terms of the number of deaths, but they are still doubling around every 3.5 days.
While that is similar to the trajectory of Italy – the world’s worst-hit country – officials said today that they saw tentative reasons for optimism.
The latest figures showed confirmed cases rose 14% between Monday and Tuesday – the third day of increases around that rate – slowing from around 22-24% last Thursday and Friday.
‘We’re not out of the woods, we’re very much in the woods, and it’s really important that we keep complying with those instructions’ said Stephen Powis, director of the National Health Service in England.
‘But as you can see, the number of infections is not rising as rapidly as it was. So, green shoots, but only green shoots, and we must not be complacent and we must not take our foot off the pedal.’
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