France reported 21,228 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, less than 23,852 on Wednesday but hospitalisations were up sharply.
Health ministry data also showed that 282 people had died from the virus in hospitals, from 229 on Wednesday.
The number of people in intensive care rose by 15 to 2,726 while the total number of patients hospitalised for the disease was up 248 over 24 hours at 25,017.
