Credit: CC0 Public Domain
France reported 178 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, a fall on the previous day, and saw its number of patients in intensive care drop under 3,000 for the first time since late March.
The health ministry said 25,987 people were now confirmed to have died from the virus in hospitals and nursing homes.
Over the past 24 hours, 178 people died from COVID-19, down from 278 on Wednesday. France's lowest daily death rate in recent weeks was reported on May 3 when 135 people were confirmed to have died.
France is due to emerge on May 11 from a lockdown that began in mid-March, with Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirming this will take place albeit with additional restrictions for the Paris region.
As well as a decline in death rates, France also reported 186 fewer patients suffering from the coronavirus in intensive care, making a total of 2,961.
Thus is the first time that the number in intensive care—which rose above 7,000 at its peak in April—has been below 3,000 since March 25.
Nationwide, there were 23,208 patients in hospital, 775 fewer than the previous day.
© 2020 AFP
