However, the number of people hospitalised for Covid-19 has reached an all-time high of 33,497, even though the seven-day moving average of additional hospitalisations, presently at 339, has steadily gone down since the beginning of the month, when it peaked at more than 1,000.
These positive trends, acknowledged by Veran on Monday, have led to calls to start loosening the lockdown as soon as possible.
Shop owners want to be allowed to reopen for the Nov. 27-29 "Black Friday" discount weekend. They have been struggling to compete against giant online retailer Amazon, which is continuing operations throughout lockdown.
But Veran dismissed the idea.
"Things are faring better but it is of utmost importance not to change course. I want us to be efficient in the long run," he said.
With almost two million cases, France has the world's fourth-highest number of infections, behind the United States, India and Brazil. Its death toll, at 45,054, is the seventh-highest globally.