French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe will present the government's plan to unwind the country's coronavirus lockdown to parliament on Tuesday, followed by a debate and vote, his office said in a statement. 

The lockdown ordered by President Emmanuel Macron to slow the spread of the virus has been in place since March 17 and is due to be lifted on May 11. 

Macron is aiming to ease some of the lockdown measures then with schools reopening first, although the government has yet to finalize how it might work in practice. 

France has also offered retailers some relief by saying it wants them to reopen on May 11, though some curbs could remain in certain areas to delay a new wave of the coronavirus.

The country reported 369 more coronavirus deaths on Saturday, a drop from previous days, with the number of people in intensive care falling for the 17th day in a row.  

While 22,614 people have died from the virus in France since the beginning of March, health officials said the mortality rate in hospitals was the lowest in a month, with 198 deaths within 24 hours. However, 171 died in retirement and care homes, and officials said they were worried by an increase in critically ill patients suffering from other conditions.  

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in France reached 124,114 on Saturday. 

(With input from Reuters, AFP)

(Cover: Medical workers check a person in a car for COVID-19 symptoms at a drive-through testing site in Anglet, southwestern France, April 20, 2020. /AP)