French helicopters move patients to other hospitals

Military helicopters flew COVID-19 patients from the Paris region to other parts of France with unoccupied critical care beds on Wednesday, as the country recorded a record increase of deaths from the new coronavirus.

According to Jerome Salomon, head of France's national health service, 509 people had died from COVID-19 in hospitals over the previous 24 hours.

This brought the total number of virus deaths in hospitals since 1 March to 4,032, a figure which does not include those who died outside a hospital setting.

Deaths in elderly care homes across the country have recently come under scrutiny.

On Wednesday, it was revealed that 19 people had died since 20 March in a home named The Riviera in the town of Mougins, southeastern France.

Salomon said he hoped to provide a count of the number of people who have died in nursing homes on Thursday.

In eastern France, the country's hardest hit region, 411 out of 620 homes have recorded COVID-19 cases.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe last week ordered those in special homes to be confined to their rooms following an earlier ban on family visits.

Salomon announced that that 24,639 people were currently hospitalised in France with 6,017 in intensive care.

Patients from Paris and the east distributed to other regions of the country using high-speed rail, aircrafts and military transport.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.