France has closed some 120 schools in areas with the largest numbers of coronavirus infection, with more likely to follow in the coming days. As a fourth Covid-19 death was reported on Tuesday, the northwestern department of Morbihan became the third epidemic hotspot, with parts placed under confinement.

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Both primary and secondary schools have been shut in the Oise department, north of Paris, where the main cluster of French cases has emerged and where two people who have died of the virus lived.

The Oise closures are affecting about 35,000 pupils, Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer told LCI television, while an additional 9,000 have been told to stay home in the Morbihan department of Brittany on the Atlantic coast.

Schools have also been closed in part of the eastern Haute-Savoie departement, the second hotspot.

The schools in Oise will remain closed until further notice, while Morbihan authorities have ordered doors shut until at least 14 March.

In a suburb of Paris, Montreuil, a class of some 20 students has been suspended, after a pupil tested positive for the virus.

North to south

Meanwhile, a women tested positive in the southeastern city of Marseille on Tuesday after returning from a ski holiday in Montgenèvre (Hautes-Alpes) at the Italian border.

She is currently in the Méditerranée Infection Foundation in Marseille where she was identified as France's 192th coronavirus case.

The Regional Health Center says in a press release a crisis unit has been activated by the Regional Health Center to identify those who have been in contact with the woman.

Officials have since reported the total number of coronavirus infections in France stands at 204, four of whom have died according to the information website of France's health ministry.

Extreme emergencies

French President Emmanuel Macron's office says he will “concentrate fully on dealing with the coronavirus crisis”, which has led to him cancelling other activities and visits, including the yearly diner with the Council of Jewish Institutions, originally planned for Tuesday.

Instead he will visit the Ministry of Health’s crisis center, Corruss that coordinates efforts to manage the crisis.

Corruss is activated in case of extreme emergencies. It has been called upon after the Charlie Hebdo and Bataclan terrorist attacks in 2015, various heatwaves, hurricane Irma in the Caribbean, and an outbreak of dengue fever on the island of Réunion.

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