BFF-03 Coronavirus claims another 753 lives in France in 24 hours: official

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VIRUS-FRANCE-TOLL

Coronavirus claims another 753 lives in France in 24 hours: official

PARIS, April 17, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The coronavirus outbreak has claimed another 753 lives in the last 24 hours in France, bringing the country’s total fatalities to 17,920, top French health official Jerome Salomon said Thursday.

But the number of virus patients hospitalised dropped by 474 and the number in critical care declined by 209, the health ministry’s number two official said.

“The spread of the virus is stabilising at a high level,” he said.

Among the dead were 11,060 who died in a hospital and 6,860 in care homes or other establishments, he said.

The global coronavirus death toll has passed 140,000, with nearly two thirds of all fatalities in Europe, according to an AFP tally Thursday at 1800 GMT.

There are now more than 2.1 million recorded infections globally, nearly half of which are in Europe.

BSS/AFP/MMA/0910HRS