France reports 47 deaths, lowest yet from COVID-19

PARIS

The number of fatalities in France dropped to its lowest number yet on Saturday, according to the nation's Health Ministry.

A total of 47 fatalities were registered on Saturday, a drop of 32 cases from Friday. Deaths in hospital stand at 47. There were no recorded fatalities for nursing homes on Saturday, with the data due out on Monday, according to the ministry.

Since the start of the outbreak, the death toll in France stands at 28,332, with cases of infection rising to 144,806, up 240 from the previous day.

The number of hospitalizations dropped again on Saturday with cases standing now at 17,178, a drop of 205 patients. Those in intensive care fell to 1,665, down 36 patients from Friday.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms before recovering. Since the beginning of record-keeping for the disease, 64,547 people have recovered in France from the epidemic and returned home.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed almost 340,000 people, with total infections reaching almost 5.26 million, while just over 2 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.