France's COVID-19 death toll tops 15,000 as ICU cases continue to fall

The death toll increased by 762 on a daily basis, more than the 574 reported on Monday. French hospitals registered a single-day loss of 541 coronavirus patients, Salomon said at a daily conference on the epidemic.

Meanwhile, another 5,497 positive cases for COVID-19 were reported, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 103,573 by Tuesday. That includes 32,292 patients who have received treatment in hospitals, up by 179 on daily basis.

Admissions in intensive care units (ICU) posted a decline for the sixth day in a row. Some 6,730 infected people need to be put on ventilator on Tuesday, down by 91 in the last 24 hours, confirming a slight decrease in resuscitation needs.

"COVID-19 pandemic is still active. We have noted for several days a plateau, a slowdown in number of (hospital) admissions, slight decrease in the number of patients in intensive care units thanks to confinement," Salomon said.

Thanking citizens for largely respecting a lockdown to halt the spread of the virus, he urged people to continue the efforts by respecting social distancing and limiting contacts in order to further contain the pandemic.

On Monday evening, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the national lockdown would be extended till May 11 to further slow down the virus spread.