France’s government to keep parks closed until Coronavirus figures fall further
THE French government is keeping popular Paris parks such as the Jardin du Luxembourg closed, despite calls from Mayor Anne Hidalgo to open them up to give Parisians – many of whom live in cramped flats without balconies or terraces – more space to stretch their legs.
The health ministry said in a statement the number of people in hospital with Covid-19 infections fell again to 21,595 from 22,284 on Monday, continuing an uninterrupted downward trend that has lasted four weeks.
The number of people in intensive care – a key measure of a health system’s ability to cope with the pandemic – also continued its downward trend, falling by 170 or 6.3 per cent to 2,542, from more than 7,000 in early April at the height of the crisis.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 708 to 140,227 on Tuesday, up from 456 on Monday. Including 37,988 probable cases, up 94, the total number of confirmed and probable cases rose by 802 to 178,225, putting France in sixth place worldwide by that measure.
The government has said it will consider locking down the country again if daily new infections rise above 3,000 again. In the past six days, the case count has increased by about 670 per day on average.
