France's daily coronavirus deaths rebound just before reopening

France's daily coronavirus death toll rebounded on May 8, three days before it starts lifting its almost two-month-old national lockdown.

A message on a closed restaurant reads "Closed because of the coronavirus" in Vincennes during a lockdown imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, April 23, 2020. (File photo: Reuters)
A message on a closed restaurant reads "Closed because of the coronavirus" in Vincennes during a lockdown imposed to slow the rate of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in France, April 23, 2020. (File photo: Reuters)

The Health Ministry said 243 people had died of the respiratory illness COVID-19 in the space of 24 hours, compared 178 on May 7, for a total of 26,230.

France has the world's fifth highest death toll, after the United States, Britain, Italy and Spain.

The number of people in intensive care units - a measure of the health system's ability to deal with the epidemic - fell by 93 or 3% to 2,868, well below the peak of 7,148 seen on April 8.

The number of people in hospital with the coronavirus also fell again, to 22,724 from 23,208, continuing an uninterrupted three-week fall and down 30% from a peak of 32,292 on April 14.

There were 642 new confirmed cases, compared to 629 the previous day, for a total of 138,421, official data showed.

Reuters