"Among these 2,025 deaths ... the number of people who died at home rose 91 percent compared with the previous week," Rist told television channel TF1.
France's National Public Health Agency said deaths nationwide rose nearly 30 percent between June 22 and 28, and by 62 percent in the Paris region.
A similar increase was recorded in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.
On Sunday, the agency said about 1,000 additional heat-related deaths had been recorded in just a few days since June 24.
The extreme temperatures also put major pressure on the healthcare system, with hospitals reporting a sharp rise in admissions for heatstroke and dehydration.
According to the Le Figaro newspaper, the French government has ordered 30,000 air conditioners for medical facilities to improve preparedness for future heat waves.
Around 50,000 households lost power during the heatwave, and cultural and sporting events were canceled in many cities.
Access to ice, used to rapidly cool patients, also became a problem.
Paris-Saclay Hospital in the Paris region was forced to source ice externally, with help from fast-food restaurants and supermarket purchases.
"We thought we were prepared; in reality we were not," the hospital's director, Cedric Lussiez, told the AP news agency.
A similar situation occurred at the university hospital in Limoges, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, where the number of patients needing cooling rose sharply and the facility's ice-making capacity proved insufficient.
Local businesses responded by donating more than a ton of ice using a machine capable of producing it even in high temperatures, the ActuLimoges news site reported.
France's AFP news agency reported on Tuesday, citing weather service Meteo-France, that a new heatwave with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) would hit France starting this weekend.
The historic heatwave has created especially difficult conditions in many homes.
The AFP reported that after 200,000 fans and air conditioners went on sale in stores, scuffles and even fights broke out among buyers.
A 2003 heatwave killed about 15,000 people in France, mostly elderly residents of care homes and private residences.
French authorities say this year's heatwave was meteorologically more intense, but its health toll has so far been less severe.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP