Two people were killed and seven others injured in a knife attack in the southeastern French town of Romans-sur-Isere on Saturday, news wires reported.

Five hundred and seventy people have died in nursing homes in France’s eastern region during the coronavirus outbreak, raising the prospect of a much larger death toll linked to the illness across the country.

Geodis, a world leader in transport and logistics has been commissioned by the French Government to organize the emergency supply of millions of masks from China to France, the company reported on Wednesday.

France on Tuesday recorded its highest daily death toll so far as mass evacuation of patients from overwhelmed hospitals is stepped up. In the last 24 hours 499 coronavirus patients have died in hospital in France - the death toll does not include those who died at home or in retirement homes, so the real total is likely to be even higher.

French health authorities reported 418 new deaths from coronavirus on Monday, taking the total to 3,024 or an increase of 16%, making France the fourth country to cross the 3,000 fatalities threshold after China, Italy and Spain.

France evacuated 36 more coronavirus patients from the hard-hit east to western areas, hoping to free up intensive care units as hospitals brace for even more serious cases in the coming days. Two high-speed trains carried patients from Mulhouse and Nancy toward hospitals along France’s western coast, where the outbreak has been limited so far.

France stepped up on Monday its calls for firms using state aid to keep afloat during the coronavirus crisis to not pay out dividends to shareholders this year.

French health authorities reported 319 new deaths from the coronavirus on Saturday, up 16% on the previous day and taking the total to 2,314, as the government scrambled to increase the number of intensive care beds nationwide.

French health chiefs reported on Thursday evening that the government vowed to ramp up testing as more than 350 people died in the country from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, including a 16-year-old girl. France's Director General of Health Jerome Salomon said the country will dramatically step up its testing programme for coronavirus from next week, AFP reported.

Nine European leaders including Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte and French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday signed a joint letter calling for the creation of 'Coronabonds' to face the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, ahead of Thursday's EU summit, ANSA reported. The letter was signed by Spain, France, Portugal, Slovenia, Greece, Ireland, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy, the Italian premier's office at Palazzo Chigi said.