The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in France has increased to 73 prompting the authorities to put restrictions on mass public events, for example canceling the Paris Half Marathon, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday
PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th February, 2020) The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in France has increased to 73 prompting the authorities to put restrictions on mass public events, for example canceling the Paris Half Marathon, French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Saturday.
"As of 01:00 p.m. [12:00 GMT] the number of those infected stood at 73, including 59 hospitalized, 12 recovered and two fatalities," the minister said at a briefing.
At Friday evening, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country stood at 57.
Veran added that the authorities decided to cancel a number of large-scale events, in particular, the MIPIM real estate expo in Cannes slated to be held from March 10-13, and the Paris Half Marathon scheduled for this Sunday. According to the minister, public gatherings of over 5,000 people in a confined space will be banned throughout the country.
The novel coronavirus was first detected in China in late December and has since spread to more than 50 countries, prompting the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare a global health emergency. So far, the virus infected more than 79,000 people in mainland China, while over 2,800 people died and nearly 40,000 have recovered. According to the latest WHO data, the number of those infected outside China has reached 4,691, while 67 people have died.
