Former French PM to testify in court on COVID-19 management

Former French prime minister and mayor of Le Havre Edouard Philippe arrives for the inauguration ceremony of French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee palace in Paris, France on May 7, 2022. (LEWIS JOLY / AP)

PARIS / THE HAGUE / MOSCOW – Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will appear before the Court of Justice of the Republic on Oct 24, as part of the judicial investigation over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, the French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.

According to the daily newspaper Le Monde, Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will have to explain why he had held the first round of municipal elections on March 15, 2020 despite mounting COVID-19 infections

Edouard Philippe has been summoned by three magistrates of the CJR on account of "endangering the lives of others" and "voluntary non-participation to fight a disaster," according to the report.

According to the daily newspaper Le Monde, he will have to explain why he had held the first round of municipal elections on March 15, 2020 despite mounting COVID-19 infections.

Netherlands 

The number of COVID-19 infections in the Netherlands is continually rising, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment announced on Tuesday.

The number of nursing home residents who tested positive for COVID-19 rose by 23 percent during the week from Oct 4 to Oct 11, while hospitals are admitting increasing numbers of people due to coronavirus infections.

ALSO READ: Johns Hopkins: Global COVID cases surpass 600m

Hospital occupancy has now reached a level comparable to during the peak of the 2022 COVID-19 summer wave. The number of newly-reported infections among nursing home residents is also at approximately the same level as during that period.

A total of 23,693 positive tests were reported in the Netherlands in the past week, an increase of 24 percent compared to the week before, according to the RIVM.

Russia

Russia confirmed 13,970 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 21,232,963, the official monitoring and response center said Tuesday.

READ MORE: WHO: COVID-19 pandemic 'nowhere near over'

The nationwide death toll increased by 109 to 388,404, while the number of recoveries increased by 31,509 to 20,470,552.