France's registered death toll from coronavirus infections rose towards 18,000 on Thursday, but some data suggested the spread of the disease was slowing after a one-month-old national lockdown, officials said.
During a press conference Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, said the number of people in hospital had declined for a second day running, and that the total number in intensive care units had fallen for the eighth day in a row.
"Our collective efforts demonstrate their effectiveness. The spread of the virus is stabilizing at a high level (...) and that is good news," Salomon said.