France coronavirus death toll climbs above 24,000

• The death toll has increased 1.8pc compared with Tuesday, a slightly higher rate of increase than over the previous 24 hours.

The death toll has increased 1.8pc compared with Tuesday, a slightly higher rate of increase than over the previous 24 hours.

The number of people in hospital with the COVID-19 infection fell further to 26,834 from 27,484 on Tuesday, and the number of people in intensive care fell to 4,207 from 4,387. Both numbers have been on a downward trend for more than two weeks.