The number of people who have died from the Covid-19 illness in France jumped by 61 per cent to 6,507 over two days after data from nursing homes were included, and confirmed cases jumped by 44 per cent to 82,165, the health ministry reported on Friday, making France the fifth country to report more cases than China.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in hospitals rose by 5,233, or 9 per cent, to 64,338 on Friday, health ministry director Jerome Salomon said at a daily briefing. Mr Salomon also reported a total of 17,827 confirmed or suspected cases in nursing homes, compared to 14,638 on Thursday, when the nursing home data were first reported.
By including the nursing home data, France now has a total of 82,165 confirmed or suspected cases. It joined the United States, Spain, Italy and Germany as nations that have now surpassed cases reported by China, where the pandemic originated, according to a Reuters tally. Excluding the nursing home data, the number of people dying from Covid-19 in French hospitals also set a new daily record of 588, an increase of 13 per cent to 5,091, health ministry data showed.