PARIS: France's coronavirus death toll surpassed 60,000 for the first time on Friday, as the health ministry reported 610 new deaths, pushing the total to 60,229.

There were 264 new deaths in hospitals, compared to 258 on Thursday, and a three-day batch of 346 deaths reported in retirement homes.

France also reported 15,674 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, down from 18,254 on Thursday but up on the 13,406 reported last Friday.