France's prime minister said the country was starting to beat back the coronavirus as the outbreak's death toll approached 20,000 on Sunday while new hospitalisations continued a slow decline.

The country reported 395 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the government said, bringing the epidemic tally to 19,718.

But in a positive sign, the number of people in hospital declined for the fifth day in a row to 30,610 — a small decline of 29, top health official Jerome Salomon told a televised press conference.