Hundreds of patients have been evacuated from hospitals in France’s worst-affected areas during the coronavirus pandemic, including some by military aircraft and high-speed trains.

Jerome Salomon, the national director general for health, said 250 people have been moved elsewhere in the country, and some have even gone to Germany.

Army aircraft and boats have been used in the transfers, he said.

People receiving treatment in eastern France have been moved in a bid to ease pressure on overstretched hospitals in the area, which has been badly-hit by the coronavirus outbreak. ​