Coronavirus pandemic | France now epicentre of COVID-19 in Europe, records 1,417 deaths in 24 hours

France now appears to be the epicentre of the novel coronavirus in Europe after they experienced a record 1,417 deaths in a 24-hour period, according to data provided by Statista.

With this, the number of deaths passed the bleak milestone of 10,000 on April 7 in the country, climbing to more than 10,300, said Jerome Salomon, national health director. Of these, 7,091 deaths were recorded in hospitals and 3,237 in old-age homes, he said.

"We are in the ascending phase of the epidemic, even if it is slowing a bit," he said, adding "we have not yet reached the peak".

#France appears to now be the epicenter of #COVID19 in Europe after they experienced a 1-day record 1,417 deaths in a 24 hour period. They now stand at 110k cases and 10,328 fatalities. pic.twitter.com/UhNeakcsld

— Statista (@StatistaCharts) April 8, 2020

The global business data platform shared a chart, listing countries with the number of coronavirus cases per one million people. As per the given data, Spain tops the list with 2,925 COVID-19 infections, followed by Switzerland (2,543), Italy (2,193) and Belgium (1,822). France is at the fifth position with 1,478 cases per million people, the data said.

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The total number of cases in France has crossed the 1-lakh mark, as it has reported at least 1,10,070 infections till 1.45 pm on April 8, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Centre.

Senior government officials on April 7 warned that it was too early to think of lifting the nationwide lockdown, which entered into force on March 17 and is set to run until April 15, for now.

Also read | Coronavirus state-wise tally

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner has urged municipal officials to toughen restrictions on movement, if necessary, and Paris announced it would enforce a ban on individual outdoor sports between the hours of 10 am and 7 pm starting April 8.

Paris and other cities have already closed public parks and gardens as part of the nationwide lockdown that requires people to carry a document justifying any excursion outside of home. Those caught without the document risk a fine starting at 135 euros ($147).

(With inputs from PTI)