UK News

Coronavirus: The Death Toll in France Reaches New Highs and Global Shortages of Equipment hinder efforts in Treatments

By Tony Winterburn • Published: 04 Apr 2020 • 7:51

France’s coronavirus death toll jumped by more than 1,000 yesterday making the new total around 6,500 – as another 160,000 police officers were deployed to enforce the country’s strict confinement laws.

DUE to the worldwide rapid spread of the virus, shortages of critical equipment have led to fierce competition among buyers from Europe, the US and around the world.

Eiffel Tower and other Paris tourist sites closed their doors over the coronavirus.

The head of the country’s national health agency said the steep rise in fatalities was because the figures included deaths from around 3,000 care homes for the elderly.

Worldwide, confirmed infections have surged past one million and deaths topped 54,000, according to a tally by the Johns Hopkins University.

Experts say both numbers are seriously under-counted because of the lack of testing, mild cases that were missed and governments that are underplaying the extent of the crisis.

Europe’s three worst-hit countries – Italy, Spain and France – surpassed 30,000 dead or over half of the global toll.

However, there was a glimmer of hope in Italy, which has seen nearly 14,000 deaths, after a flattening of the number of new infections.