France reports 534 new confirmed COVID-19 cases

FILE PHOTO: A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Robert Ballanger hospital in Aulnay-sous-Bois near Paris during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in France. Seine-Saint-Denis, a mainly working class and multiracial suburb, was already lacking doctors and resources before the coronavirus crisis and has seen a bigger spike in mortality than neighbouring Paris. Picture taken April 29, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

France reported 534 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 18 new deaths from the virus on Thursday, hours after ministers urged people to start wearing masks in enclosed public places to prevent a new flare-up of the epidemic.

According to health ministry data, the total death toll since the outbreak started reached 30,138, and the number of confirmed cases was 173,838.

The number of people in hospital was 6,796, down 119 over the previous 24 hours, and the number of those in intensive care was 481, one fewer than a day earlier.

(Reporting by Christian Lowe)