Public health officials in the Grand-Est region, near France's border with Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg, say it is premature to say the crisis is over, but they believe they have passed the peak of the epidemic, Reuters reports.

The virus hit the region earlier and harder than anywhere else in France, in large part because of a five-day prayer gathering at an evangelical church in Mulhouse where dozens of worshippers were infected.

The more positive trend now could provide a roadmap for how other regions and countries still in the thick of the outbreak will eventually emerge.

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