Covid-19 in France: First cases in Nord and Corsica

The Nord case is a young woman who works near Lille, and had just returned from a holiday in Italy. She is now in hospital in Lille, and her “condition is not worrying”, regional health agency l’Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) has said.

The risk of her spreading the virus is considered to be low.

The island of Corsica has also confirmed its first three cases. It had been one of just two regions in France not affected (with the Centre-Val-de-Loire).

The infected people had returned from a church trip to Mulhouse (Haut-Rhin, Grand Est), where several cases have been confirmed.

Corsica has now put a “crisis cell” in place with its ARS, and the patients are being treated in hospital quarantine in Ajaccio.

Corsica prefect Franck Robine said: “These cases have been confirmed. We were prepared for this eventuality.”

The number of people officially confirmed to have the virus today was up by 73 compared to yesterday, to 285, including 15 people in a serious state. The number of people to have recovered is now at 12. Four people have died.

Thirteen regions in France are now affected, including French Guiana. Seven regions have reported at least 10 cases: the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Brittany, Grand Est, Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France.

The worst-affected areas are the Oise, Haute-Savoie, Haut-Rhin, and Morbihan.

World updates can be seen on this interactive map here, and and updated map of French cases here, by news source BMFTV.