France reports more coronavirus cases, but says disease is under control

France reported more coronavirus-linked deaths and cases on Friday, although a top health official said the respiratory disease caused by the new virus was under control.

"The epidemic is currently under control. The virus is still circulating ... but at a slow speed," Jean-François Delfraissy, head of the COVID-19 scientific committee set up by the government, told France Inter radio. The coronavirus death toll rose by 46 to reach 29,111, which is the fifth-highest total in the world.

The number of confirmed cases rose by 0.4% to 153,055. According to Reuters calculations, if probable cases of coronavirus in care homes are added, France's total number of cases stands at more than 189,000, the eighth-highest tally in the world on that basis.

The ministry said the number of people being treated in hospital for COVID-19 fell by 405 to 12,696. At the peak of the outbreak in mid-April that number reached 32,292. The number of people in intensive care fell by 69, or 5.9%, to 1,094, its steepest decline in percentage points in almost a month.