France coronavirus deaths rise again, closing in on 24,000

The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 367 to 23,660 on Tuesday, while the number of confirmed cases was up 1,520 at 129,859, the health ministry said in a statement. French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told parliament France would not end its nationwide lockdown unless the number of new cases of coronavirus infection drops below 3,000 per day.

The death tally has increased 1.6% compared to Monday, with the rate slightly slowing over 24 hours. The number of people in hospital with the COVID-19 infection fell further to 27,484 from 28,055 on Monday and the number of people in intensive care fell to 4,387 from 4,608 on Monday. Both have been on a downward trend for at least two weeks.