Anti-inflammatory medicines could aggravate coronavirus: France's health minister

France's health minister on Saturday said people should not use anti-inflammatory drugs if they have coronavirus-like symptoms because it could worsen their condition.

"Taking anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, cortisone ...) could be an aggravating factor for the infection. If you have a fever, take paracetamol," Oliver Veran said on Twitter.

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday school closures and urged people to avoid close contact for fear of propagating the virus that has killed 79 people in France and infected more than 3,600.

There are now almost 138,000 cases and more than 5,000 deaths form coronavirus recorded in 125 countries and regions. Experts say many more cases are either unreported or undetected.