France's coronavirus death toll nears 26,000

France's death toll from the novel coronavirus rose to 25,809, the world's fifth-highest behind the United States, Britain, Italy and Spain, according to figures released by the French Health Ministry.

On a daily basis, the tally grew by 278, slower than Tuesday's 330 and Monday's 306, Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

The number of patients in hospitals fell by 792 to 23,983. The same downward trend was reported in intensive care units where 3,147 patients required life support, down by 283 for the 29th day in a row.

From May 11, France will start to slowly ease confinement to guarantee people safety and inject dynamism into a plunging economy. Schools will gradually reopen.

Workers will be allowed to return to work and companies to resume activities. Meanwhile, restaurants, cafes and beaches will remain closed until at least June, while professional sporting events are suspended until September.

Wearing a mask will be mandatory in public transport. Religious ceremonies will be allowed from June 1 if social distancing rules will be respected.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will present the government's final strategy to lift anti-coronavirus lockdown on Thursday afternoon amid high concerns over the eventual risk of a second epidemic wave.

Two out of three French people expressed worries about the post-confinement period, according to an Elabe poll released early Wednesday.

It found that 83 per cent of 1,001 respondents said they were worried about using public transport and three quarters said they were concerned about letting their children go to school.

According to the online survey conducted on May 4-5, 67 per cent of people thought that de-confinement was not well prepared, up by 12 per cent from last week's survey.