More than 8,000 people died with the coronavirus in British nursing homes since the first recorded death from March 2 to May 1.

The U.K.’s Office for National Statistics says in the two-month period there were 8,312 recorded deaths in care homes in England and Wales that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate. The figure doesn’t include deaths in Scotland or Northern Ireland, which would add several hundred to the total.

In all, there were 35,044 deaths involving the coronavirus in England and Wales to May 1.

The figure is higher than the official government toll, which stood Monday at 32,065, because it includes cases in which COVID-19 was suspected but not confirmed by a test.

The number of deaths among people with the virus, both in hospitals and elsewhere, is starting to fall. Nick Stripe, head of health analysis at the statistics office, says the total number of weekly deaths is declining but remains well above average for the time of year.

___

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is urging governments hire more nurses and invest in their training and working conditions, saying the COVID-19 pandemic has shown a “number of deficiencies” in the way governments provide medical care for their people.

Francis hailed the “courage and sacrifice” of nurses and says their “fundamental importance” had been reaffirmed during the pandemic. He issued the message on the World Health Organization’s International Nurses Day and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Francis noted many nurses have died during the pandemic. He asks world leaders "to invest in health care as the primary common good, by strengthening its systems and employing greater numbers of nurses, so as to ensure adequate care to everyone, with respect for the dignity of each person.”

___

PARIS — Farmers markets reopened around Paris as the country gradually lifts two months of coronavirus confinement.

Signs warned customers not to touch the produce, and vendors chatted with shoppers through plastic shields amid strawberries, asparagus and sea snails. Marie Claude Polichoik, a 70-year-old Parisian shopper, says she missed the markets and hoped to “keep local trade on its feet.”

In eastern France, the European Parliament’s headquarters in Strasbourg transformed its emptied halls into a mass virus testing center that opened Tuesday. The surrounding region was the first major virus hotspot in France, which has reported more than 26,000 deaths from the pandemic.

___

HELSINKI — The Finnish national airline Finnair will require passengers and cabin crew to wear face masks on all flights effective May 18 through at least the end of August.

Piia Karhu from Finnair’s customer experience unit says, “we want everyone to be able to fly with confidence.”

She adds passengers of Finnair, which is heavily focused on flights to Asia, would board a plane with their own mask and wear it throughout the flight. Finnair says face masks would be available at its main hub, Helsinki Airport, and other Finnish airports.

The Finnish airport operator Finavia says the use of mouth-nose protectors is required for all airport employees in Finland working with customers. It recommended passengers wear one as they move through airports.

Finland, a nation of 5.5 million, has registered 5,984 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 271 deaths.

___

WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci says he intends to warn the nation Tuesday that “needless suffering and death” will result from a rushed reopening of the economy.

Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension committee at a hearing assessing reopening plans.

In an email to the New York Times, Fauci says his major message will concern the danger of trying to open the country.

“If we skip over the checkpoints in the guidelines to ‘Open America Again,’ then we risk the danger of multiple outbreaks throughout the country,” Fauci wrote. “This will not only result in needless suffering and death, but would actually set us back on our quest to return to normal.”

This puts Fauci at odds with President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly urged governors to lift business closings and stay-at-home orders.