PARIS

The number of fatalities in France on Saturday plummeted after a week that proved uneven at best, according to the latest statistics reported by the French Health Ministry.

A total of 96 fatalities were registered on Saturday, a dropping compared to those reported on Friday. Deaths in hospitals stand at 78, with 18 reported to have succumbed to the disease in nursing homes. The total number of fatalities in hospitals is 17,412 and the total in nursing homes is 10,213.

Since the start of the outbreak, the death toll in France stands at 27,625 with infections rising to some degree, to 142,291, a rise by 372 cases over the previous day.

The number of hospitalizations dropped again on Saturday with cases standing now at 19,432, another sizable drop of 429 patients. Those in intensive care fell to 2,132, down by 71 patients over Friday.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms and recover. Since the beginning of record-keeping for the disease, 61,066 people have recovered in France from the pandemic and have returned home.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, has spread to 188 countries and regions across the world. Europe and the US are currently the worst-hit regions.

The pandemic has killed over 310,000 people, with total infections reaching almost 4.6 million, while more than 1.66 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.