PARIS, France (AFP) – France extended its nationwide lockdown on Monday for another month in a bid to halt the coronavirus pandemic, as other hard-hit countries considered easing their measures with hopes rising that death rates may soon plateau. 

More than half of humanity is now under confinement to contain the virus, which has killed more than 117,000 people and infected nearly 1.9 million since emerging in China late last year. 

Most of the dead are in Europe, but the United States has also been hard hit — particularly New York state where more than 10,000 have died, close to half of all fatalities in the country.

Governments around the world are under pressure to save their economies from total collapse as a result of the mass shutdown of businesses and confinement of people, but officials are also trying to avoid a deadly second wave of the disease.

While New York’s governor said the peak had passed on Monday, Spain started to ease lockdown orders on Monday and Austria readied to reopen some shops. 

But France did not follow suit, extending a lockdown in place since March 17 until May 11, after which schools and businesses are set to gradually reopen.

President Emmanuel Macron said the epidemic was “beginning to steady… (and) hope is returning”, speaking in a televised address to the nation.

“May 11 will be the start of a new phase. It will be progressive and the rules can be adapted according to our results,” he added.

France reported a slight increase in hospital deaths on Monday — though still below its record numbers of last week — and a slight dip in intensive care patients for a fifth day running.

France today reported 574 new deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Monday, bringing the total to 14,967 since the coronavirus outbreak began.

A total of 335 of the deaths occurred in hospitals, up from 315 the previous day, while 239 deaths were recorded in nursing homes.

For the fifth day in a row, the number of patients in intensive care fell, with 24 fewer people, leaving 6,821 in a serious condition. The figure is seen as a key indicator of the outbreak’s spread across the country.