PARIS 

France on Friday saw a rise in coronavirus infections but deaths remained low.

With 726 more cases in the past day, the nationwide case-count has risen to 156,287, according to the Health Ministry.

However, the number of hospitalizations fell on Friday with cases coming in at 11,079, a drop by 341 patients from the day before.

Those in intensive care fell to 851, down by 52 patients over the same period.

A total of 33 deaths were reported in the past day taking the death toll to 29,374.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms and recover. Since the beginning of record-keeping for the disease, 72,562 people have recovered in France from the epidemic and have returned home.

After originating in China last December, COVID-19, the disease caused 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 more than 423,000 people worldwide, with total infections reaching just over 7.57 million, while almost 3.6 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University.