Paris, Jun 6 (IANS): France saw its overall toll of the coronavirus epidemic rise to 29,111 on Friday, after it recorded 46 deaths in the last 24 hours, slightly up from Thursday's 44, the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The updated tally only includes hospital fatalities as those occurring in nursing homes and medico-social establishments will be updated on a weekly basis on Tuesdays, Xinhua reported.

The number of people in hospital with coronavirus infection fell to 12,696 from Thursday's 13,101, consolidating a continued decline now entering its second month. In a similar downtrend, the number of people in intensive care decreased by 69 to 1,094.

A total of 611 people have tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours compared with Thursday's 767, making the total number of infections to 153,055 since the outbreak of the epidemic. Up to 70,504 have been discharged from hospitals since early March.

"The virus is still present on the national territory and remains dangerous, in particular for the elderly and those suffering chronic diseases," the ministry said.

"Let's not relax our efforts by applying barrier gestures. Let's continue collectively to show caution and common sense to break the chains of contamination and curb the epidemic," it added.