France Can’t Give Update on Overall Coronavirus Deaths

(Bloomberg) -- France wasn’t able to supply overall figures for deaths or confirmed cases linked to the coronavirus for last 24 hours, blaming a “technical issue” with the transmission of data from nursing homes.

The country reported an increase of 541 deaths at hospitals on Wednesday, bringing that figure to 7,632. Confirmed cases, excluding retirement and nursing homes, rose by 3,881 to 82,048, according to figures presented by the head of the French public health agency Jerome Salomon.

France’s reported data has jumped around as the country failed to include data from retirement and nursing homes for several weeks, then only added partial data for several days and today cited but failed to detail the technical issues that prevented the health agency from obtaining the figures.

Including Tuesday’s figures from nursing homes, cases in France now total at least 112,950 while deaths are at least 10,869.

Even as infections and deaths increased, the daily increase of intensive-care patients slowed for a ninth day. Health authorities have highlighted ICU admissions as the best gage of the outbreak’s intensity and its pressure on the health-care system.

The French government has said lockdown measures to bring the disease under control will probably be extended beyond April 15, even as Germany and Italy are beginning to debate how to gradually relax some restrictions on public life.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.