The total number of people hospitalised for the disease on Saturday fell by 444 to 19,765, as intensive care patient numbers also dropped by 87 87 to 3,544 – down from more than 6,000 in April, the health ministry reported.
France has been gradually loosening its lockdown since the start of May and hopes to lift all major restrictions by the end of June.
Since Wednesday, cafes and restaurants have been able to serve customers in outside areas, and the nightly curfew has been pushed back by two hours.
The death toll grew by 89, at 108,526, the eighth-biggest tally globally, but the seven-day moving average of daily new fatalities fell to 142, its lowest since 20 October.
Bordeaux blitz on variant
In the south-western city of Bordeaux, some 19,000 doses have been released in order to vaccinate the entire adult population of the neighbourhood of Bacalan after a cluster of around 50 cases of a "worrying" variant, the regional health agency reported.
A temporary vaccination centre is expected to be set up from Wednesday to assist with the operation. The extra doses will also be used to boost pharmacy supplies in surrounding neighbourhoods to speed up vaccinations.
The variant labelled VOC 20I/484Q, is related to the British variant of Covid-19 but with an additional mutation. It has previously been identified in France in very low numbers.
La variant 20I/484Q (variant britannique + mutation E484Q) est, par les cinq variants "préoccupants", celui dont en parle le moins. Mais un cluster de plusieurs dizaines de cas a été recensé à Bordeaux, et l'ARS demande une vaccination rapide du quartier.https://t.co/WD59hGTrmW
— Nicolas Berrod (@nicolasberrod) May 21, 2021
None of those infected so far have been hospitalised.
The mutation is also carried by the South African and Brazilian variants and is suspected of reducing the immunity acquired by either a past infection or by some vaccines.
Nearly 23 million people have now received a first injection of the Covid-19 vaccine, with 9.7 million having both jabs, according to the top health authority.
The government is targeting 30 million first injections by mid-June.
