France recorded around 7,000 excess deaths through the end of July amid successive heat waves across the country, Health Minister Stephanie Rist said Friday.
A new assessment put the number of excess deaths through the end of July at 7,000 as France saw several heat waves during the summer, according to broadcaster BFMTV.
The previous estimated figure reportedly stood at over 5,000.
"We have been suffering from repeated heat waves for three months. There are some observations we can make: our health care system is holding up, and we have excess mortality of 7,000 people who died by the end of July," Rist told broadcaster France 2.
She said the deaths mainly involved people living alone and in isolation in large cities.
Comparing the figure with the 2003 heat wave, which caused nearly 15,000 deaths, Rist said there would "probably be fewer excess deaths in nursing homes" and that there had been "lessons learned, with professionals better trained and cooled rooms."
She acknowledged that they still had things to do while the final data are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
