103 year old woman beats virus in France

Doctors and nurses made the gesture for the woman who had been in hospital for three months suffering from a mild form of the virus. You can see the video of her leaving here.

Hélène François said: “I am a tough cookie. I wanted to heal, I wanted to get out of it. It came and went. God bless.”

Mrs François is a source of hope and encouragement, said staff at the hospital in Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine).

A nurse who has been taking care of her, Carine Mensah, said: “We have lost many patients who were much younger. To see her so dynamic and to get through it, especially... When we have victories like this, it allows us to keep going, to give more, and be more serene.”

Mrs François is described as energetic by her grand-nephew who was not surprised to see her back at home.

She has lived through the Spanish flu epidemic which killed around 50million people a century ago and has now survived the Covid-19 epidemic.

There have been 142,411 recorded cases of Covid-19 in France with 28,108 deaths in hospitals and care homes while 61,213 have been able to leave the hospital so far.