PARIS, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- French health authorities on Sunday confirmed 9,784 new COVID-19 cases, down from 12,580 registered a day before, while the daily fatalities slowed for the second consecutive day amid improved situation in health establishments.

The new cases took the country's total to 2,218,483 since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, 198 patients succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, pushing the national death toll to 52,325, showed the official data.

The number of new hospital admissions and those in the intensive continued to fall. As of Sunday, 28,313 patients were hospitalized, including 3,756 in intensive care, down by 145 and 21 respectively.

France on Saturday started the first phase of its three-stage reopening strategy. The country is expected to lift the countrywide lockdown and introduce a night-time curfew on Dec. 15.