Coronavirus deaths cast a pall over France as lockdown continues

TwoTwo weeks into its second national lockdown, France may be seeing the first indications that it is bending the curve of coronavirus infections, but it could match or even eclipse the devastation of the spring before bringing the virus in check, reports The Washington Post.

Daily new cases have begun to fall in recent days, and the Health Ministry noted that the reproduction rate — the number of new infections generated by each case — dropped below 1 for the first time since July, providing a hopeful though tentative sign that transmission may be slowing.

But France is averaging more than 500 coronavirus deaths a day. Only the United States and India — nations with far bigger populations — are losing more people to the virus.

The figures have cast a pall over a country that has already seen more than 42,000 deaths attributed to covid-19.

Read more of this report from The Washington Post.