French PM says coronavirus situation improving, but crisis not over

The coronavirus situation in France is improving "slowly but surely", French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Sunday, while warning that the health crisis was far from over. Philippe said there were signals that pressures on hospitals were easing, after the number of people in intensive care dropped for several days in a row.

France, which has recorded close to 20,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, has been in virtual lockdown for nearly five weeks, but is due to start easing some confinement measures from May 11. Philippe said that an economic crisis was only just starting as a result of the outbreak, adding that it would be "brutal".