France to reinstate Paris evening curfew as COVID-19 worsens

The French government will reimpose an evening curfew on Paris, and possibly the Ile-de-France region around the capital, to tackle worsening COVID-19 figures.

According to government spokesman Gabriel Attal, the evening curfew on Paris, which would start at 9:00 pm, would come on top of a new, national lockdown imposed last week by President Emmanuel Macron.

"We are going to reinstate a curfew on Paris, and perhaps the Ile-de-France. The Interior Ministry will specify the details later in the day and an edict will be issued," Attal told BFM TV.

France reported a record 52,518 new COVID-19 cases on Monday and the number hospitalised rose by more than a 1,000 for the fourth time in eight days, as the pandemic shows no signs of abating despite the new lockdown.

France's COVID-19 death toll rose by 416 to 37,435, compared with an increase of 231 on Sunday and a months-high seven-day moving average of 345.

Health Minister Olivier Veran told RTL radio that one Parisian was becoming infected with COVID-19 every 30 seconds, while a Parisian is admitted to hospital with the disease every 15 minutes.