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France on Wednesday reported 541 more deaths from COVID-19 in hospital over the last 24 hours, bringing its total official toll from the coronavirus epidemic to 10,869.

Top health official Jerome Salomon told reporters that there were now 7,148 people in , a net increase of 17 from the day earlier, the lowest increase recorded in recent weeks.

He said that due to a technical fault there was no daily data available Wednesday from nursing homes, meaning that the overall toll is likely incomplete.