France's COVID-19 death toll tops 23,000

An aerial view of the deserted Place de l'Etoile and the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, during a lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, April 1, 2020. /Reuters

France's COVID-19 death toll rose by 437 in the past 24 hours, taking the country's total tally to 23,293, the health ministry said in a statement.

The 1.9% hike is the highest recorded by the country in four days but well below the more than 4% rate seen 10 days ago.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19 infection fell further to 28,055 from 28,217 on Sunday and the number of people in intensive care fell to 4,608 from 4,682 on Sunday. Both have been on a downward trend for more than 10 days.

France is one of the most affected countries globally by the COVID-19 pandemic, having registered 162,220 infections.

The country is one of only five globally that have recorded more than 20,000 COVID-19 fatalities. The others are the U.S., Italy, Spain and the U.K.

Globally, the number of COVID-19 cases have exceeded three million and the number of fatalities has gone beyond 208,000.

Source(s): Reuters