France coronavirus death toll close to Spain's, still world's fourth highest

A patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Centre Cardiologique du Nord private hospital in Saint-Denis near Paris as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues in France, April 22, 2020. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

PARIS (Reuters) - The number of people who have died from coronavirus infection in France increased by 544 to 21,340 on Wednesday, the fourth-highest casualty tally in the world, but trailing just a few hundred behind Spain, which has a death toll of 21,717.

The toll increased at a rate of 2.6% on Wednesday, the same as Tuesday, and remained well below the four to five percent rates seen a week ago. In Spain, the increase in the number of deaths has been close to 2% for four days.