Paris, France, the fifth-worst coronavirus-hit nation in the the world and the third in Europe, on Wednesday reported over 200 more deaths, taking the number over 1,300 amid apprehensions that the toll could rise more steeply when fatalities outside hospitals are counted.

As many as 231 new deaths have taken the country's total to 1,331, while the total number of cases is now 25,233 - including 2,827 people who are in a serious condition and on life support, the BBC reported.

France's toll is so only based on hospital deaths, and authorities say they will soon have figures for deaths in care homes, which could mean a large increase in the overall number of fatalities.