France reports new coronavirus death, 191 positive cases

France reported the third novel coronavirus death on Monday, and 191 positive cases have been confirmed so far in 12 regions, Health General Director Jerome Salomon said at a daily press briefing on the COVID-19 outbreak.

A 89-year-old French woman, who suffered from other diseases and died in Compiegne in north France on Sunday night, was tested coronavirus positive post mortem.

It's the third death caused by the illness since France detected the first case on Jan. 24.

The cases of infection increased by 61 in one day. Of all the cases, 107 are part of a chain of contamination or a cluster, 38 returned from other countries, at least 42 are under investigation, said Salomon.

"For 75 percent of cases, we have an explanation and a chain of transmission," he added.

As the rise in coronavirus cases fuels concerns, Salomon invited citizens in non-affected regions to "continue a normal life".

"Our health system has been fully mobilized to face the situation," he said. "We invite people in regions not yet affected to continue a normal life."

With 12 regions now affected, five of them with more than 10 cases each, France remains at stage 2 of its epidemic plan, which means an epidemiological mosaic with different situations at regional level, said the senior health official.

He reiterated that the government has a clear objective to slow down the spread of the virus across the territory.

"The virus does not spread in a homogeneous way. Certain communes and territories are affected, others not," said Salomon. "There is no systematic cancellation of events. There is an assessment at the local level." The government on Saturday banned all gatherings expected to draw 5,000 people in confined spaces and some events of similar scale in open-air space.

In l'Oise in the north, Haute-Savoie near Italian border and western department of Brittany, where the main clusters had been detected, schools are closed until further notice and residents are recommended to limit their journeys.

Earlier in the day, President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a visit to southwestern France scheduled for Wednesday and his attendance at an annual dinner event on Tuesday "to be available to manage the situation and mobilize all the actors," BFMTV news channel said, citing the presidential office.