03/03/2020
Arab Times
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PARIS, March 3 (KUNA) -- France reported 21 new Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases Tuesday, bringing the overall total of cases to 212, Health Director-General Jerome Salomon said in a press statement.
Earlier a Health Ministry statement indicated that a fourth person has died from the fast-spreading virus, which has killed over 3,160 people worldwide and infected over 92,800, mostly in China.
The latest French victim was 92 years old and located in the Brittany area of western France, where a fresh outbreak has been reported, with several cases.
Most French cases are in two clusters, one in the Oise region about 80 kilometres north of Paris and another in the Upper Savoie region near the Alps Mountains.
The Health Ministry said that 140 hospitals and medical centres were "fully mobilised" to handle the epidemic.
Salomon said that the rate of infection spread outside of China was nine times faster than that in China itself, even if the bulk of cases was in that country.
He said that there were now 11,000 cases outside of China.
However, as there are concerns about a lack of protective masks, President Emmanuel Macron ordered earlier in the day the requisition of all stocks of masks and production facilities to supply medical personnel and infected patients.
