PARIS

Friday brought improvement in France's battle against the coronavirus in terms of fatalities, although infections showed a sharp uptick in the latest Health Ministry data.

A total of 14 deaths in hospital were registered on Friday, a drop of 15 cases from those reported on Thursday. The total number of fatalities to date in hospital is 19,160, along with 10,350 in nursing homes.

Since the start of the outbreak, the death toll in France stands at 29,617 with cases of infection rising to 158,641, up 811 cases from the previous day.

The number of hospitalizations decreased on Friday with cases coming in at 9,925, a drop of 297 patients from the day before. Those in intensive care fell to 727, down 25 patients from Thursday.

Despite the severity of the virus, most people experience mild symptoms before recovering. Since the beginning of record-keeping for the disease, 74,107 people have recovered in France from the epidemic 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.

The pandemic has killed more than 457,100 people worldwide, with total infections reaching over 8.55 million, while just over 4.2 million people have recovered from the disease, according to figures compiled by the US’ Johns Hopkins University.