France to reinstate Paris evening curfew as Covid-19 worsens

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.

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, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said on Tuesday.

A deserted Champs-Elysees avenue is seen near the Arc de Triomphe during the nightly curfew imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Paris, France. (REUTERS)

The evening curfew on Paris, which would start at 9 pm, would come on top of a new, national lockdown imposed last week by President Emmanuel Macron, Attal said.

“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.