France said Sunday that it would not quarantine anyone arriving from the European Union, the Schengen area or Britain due to the coronavirus, as it prepares to start easing lockdown measures from May 11 after two months of restriction.

On Saturday, the government decided to extend its "state of health emergency" until at least July 24, and anyone entering France would have to remain in isolation for two weeks.

But the quarantine rules would not apply to "anyone arriving from the EU, the Schengen zone or Britain, regardless of their nationality", the presidency said on Sunday.

And for French and EU citizens arriving in France from other regions outside the EU, the Schengen area and Britain, "the rules will be announced in the coming days", the presidency said.

A woman wearing a protective facemask walks in the Mouffetard street as she does her grocery shopping during the food market, on May 2, 2020 in Paris. (Photo: AFP)

The French consulate in Britain had made a similar announcement earlier in the day.

"People entering the French territory from countries in the European area (EU/Schengen and United Kingdom) will NOT be affected by the quarantine measure announced in France, the details of which will be specified shortly," the consulate said on Twitter.

Screenshot from Twitter.

French government spokeswoman Sibeth Ndiaye said earlier on Sunday that a list of "countries at risk" would soon be issued, without giving details.

"We'll establish a list of countries at risk and... when people come from risk areas, whether they are French or foreigners, we'll have mandatory quarantine measures," she said on France Inter radio station.

The number of COVID-19 fatalities in France have been in decline recently, with 135 deaths reported over the past 24 hours on Sunday, the lowest daily increase since March 22. The national health service said the increase brought France's total death toll to 24,895, the world's fifth highest figure after the United States, Italy, Britain and Spain.

France announced on Saturday that it would further extend its coronavirus state of emergency to July 24, which is part of a set of measures to be proposed to Parliament on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Veran said in a news conference. 

He said that lifting the emergency order earlier would waste the "considerable efforts made by the French people."

"If we were to decrease overnight on May 11 the efforts we made, we can bet that all these efforts, made admirably by the French people, would have been in vain," Veran said.

The government has said the number of new coronavirus cases must stabilize at fewer than 3,000 per day as it expands testing, otherwise doctors and nurses could face another wave of patients that have tested hospitals since March.

"If the number of new cases proves too high, we'll have to reconsider the date for lifting the lockdown, and decide according to the situation in each department," Veran said.

He also cautioned against planning summer holidays for now, saying "it's unlikely that this virus is going to go on vacation".

(With input from agencies)