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A French doctor has died from coronavirus, the first medic to succumb in the country, health minister Olivier Veran has said.

The minister paid tribute to all front-line medical staff and urged other workers to keep essential services running despite the nationwide lockdown. “The medical profession is making a heavy sacrifice in our country today,” Veran told LCI television.

The doctor who died was an emergency specialist working at a hospital in Compiegne, north of Paris, public television reported, citing a Facebook post by one of his children. “We’re asking citizens to continue mobilising to keep our economy working,” Veran said. “Not for the sake of economic objectives or budgets, but because a single missing link can bring down the entire production system.”

France’s death toll rose by 112 to 562 on Saturday, according to health ministry numbers, while the number of confirmed cases increased 15% to 14,459 in 24 hours.

The government may also roll out a tax-free coronavirus “attendance bonus” for people who need to be at their workplace to carry out their jobs, officials have said.

Courtesy of theguardian.com