COVID-19: France reports 75 new deaths in hospitals

PARIS

The number of fatalities in France on Friday took a dip again, ending a week that gave confidence to the French after weeks battling the coronavirus, according to the latest statistics reported by the country's Health Ministry.

A total of 75 fatalities in hospitals were counted on Friday, a drop by eight cases over those reported on Thursday. The total number of fatalities in hospital to date during the outbreak is 17,944. There were no reported deaths in nursing homes on Friday.

Since the start of the crisis, the death toll in France stands at 28,289, with cases of infection rising to a good degree, to 144,566, a rise of 403 cases over the previous day.

The number of hospitalizations dropped again on Friday with cases standing now at 17,383, another sizable drop of 200 patients. Those in intensive care fell to 1,701, down by 44 patients over Thursday.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms and recover. Since the beginning of record-keeping for the disease, 64,209 people have recovered in France from the pandemic and returned home.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed more than 335,400 people, with total infections nearing 5.16 million, while over 1.98 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.