First French hospital doctor dies of coronavirus

A medical room prepared to host COVID-19 patients evacuated from Ajaccio's overstretched hospital, aboard of the helicopter-carrier "Tonnerre" of the French Marine Nationale docked at the port of Ajaccio, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, during a strict nationwide lockdown seeking to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus. AFP PHOTO

France on Sunday reported its first death of a hospital doctor from coronavirus.
Health Minister Olivier Veran said that as far as he knew the man -- who died on Saturday -- was the "first hospital doctor to be hit".
The accident and emergency practitioner worked at a hospital in Compiegne, north of Paris, AFP was able to confirm.

Veran refused to give any more information about the victim, saying details were being withheld for medical reasons and to respect the wishes of the doctor's family.
Compiegne is in the Oise department, the first area in France to be badly hit by the outbreak.
With a controversy raging about the lack of protective masks for medical staff in France, Veran said most of the medical staff who will contract the virus will be infected outside of their work.

The minister said that although protection for frontline staff was "absolutely indispensable", there had been several cases of doctors and nurses falling ill when they were equipped with masks.
The virus has so far killed 562 people in France with a further 6,172 in hospital, of whom a quarter are in a serious condition in intensive care.

Death toll

The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 308,130 with 13,444 deaths, across 170 countries and territories at 1100 GMT (2pm) Sunday, according to a tally compiled by AFP from official sources.

Since 1900 GMT on Saturday, there were 1,702 new deaths reported and 28,674 new cases globally.

The tallies, using data collected by AFP offices from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), likely reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections, with many countries now only testing cases that require hospitalisation.

China -- excluding Hong Kong and Macau -- where the outbreak emerged in December, has to date declared 81,054 cases, including 3,261 deaths, with 72,244 people recovered. The country declared 46 new cases and six new fatalities since Saturday.

Italy, which recorded its first coronavirus death in February, now has more fatalities than China with 4,825, as well as having 53,578 infections with 6,072 recoveries.

The third worst-hit country is Spain with 1,720 fatalities and 28,572 cases, Iran with 1,685 fatalities and 21,638 cases, followed by France with 562 deaths and 14,459 cases, and the United States with 340 deaths and 26,747 cases.

Since 1900 GMT Saturday, Kosovo, Colombia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Romania, Chile and Cyprus announced their first deaths. Angola, Gaza, East Timor, Uganda and Eritrea announced their first cases.