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91 dead due to Coronavirus in France; cinemas, cafes, restaurants shut

Salomon added that France was from now at its highest sanitary alert level of stage three, which means that the virus is now circulating actively across French territory.

91 dead due to Coronavirus in France; cinemas, cafes, restaurants shut

Staff members work inside a field hospital at Rafah crossing border in the southern Gaza Strip (Photo: IANS)

As the world battles for deadly novel Coronavirus, France on Saturday drastically stepped up its measures against the spread of the virus, announcing the closure of all non-essential public places including restaurants and cafes from midnight (2300 GMT).

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told media,”I have decided on the closure until further notice from midnight of places that receive the public that are non-essential to the life of the country”.

“This includes notably cafes, restaurants, cinemas and discos”, Philippe added.

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Meanwhile, top health official Jerome Salomon announced that the death toll from COVID-19 had risen by 12 over the last day in France to 91, with the total number of infected standing at 4,500.

Salomon added that France was from now at its highest sanitary alert level of stage three, which means that the virus is now circulating actively across French territory.

He added that the number of those infected had doubled over the last 72 hours.

Spain’s equality minister has tested positive for coronavirus and has been quarantined with her partner, deputy prime minister and Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias.

The total number of cases in Italy, the European country hardest hit by the virus, rose to 15,113 from a previous 12,462, an increase of 21.7 per cent.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a pandemic as Italy tightened its strict quarantine and the United States imposed a ban on flights to Europe.

According to the WHO report, more than 4,613 people have died and over 126,000 have been infected globally.

On Wednesday, WHO said that the COVID-19 outbreak can be characterized as a “pandemic” as the virus spreads increasingly worldwide.

More than 4,000 people have died and over 110,000 have been infected worldwide, with the majority in China, though daily infections are now growing at a much faster pace abroad.

The novel Coronavirus outbreak has caused alarm as it has crossed global fatalities in the 2002-03 SARS epidemic.

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