Gyms and swimming pools will also all be closed for two weeks in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, the city's police chief said, but restaurants will remain open if strict hygiene rules are in place.
After growing protests by restaurant and bar owners angry at imposed early closing hours for their businesses in Paris and other cities considered to be hotspots of a rapid rise in novel coronavirus infections, the French government on Tuesday announced they will receive emergency relief funding, an extended period of payment to laid-off staff, and tax breaks.
Hospitals in Paris and Marseille have begun delaying operations to free up space for the fast-rising numbers of patients arriving with Covid-19 infections.
The French government's attempt to contain a significant resurgence of infections of the novel coronavirus, with measures including early closing of bars and restaurants, is facing strong opposition in the southern city of Marseille and its neighbouring region, with local politicians and proprietors warning of a popular revolt.
French health minister Olivier Véran on Wednesday evening announced new measures to contain the rapid resurgence of novel coronavirus infections across the country, including the shutting down of bars and restaurants in the southern city of Marseille, while stopping short of earlier reports of drastic measures for Paris, although bars and cafés in the capital will from Monday have to close business at 10pm.
Amid the continuing resurgence across France of coronavirus infections, Paris and several other cities are to due be designated as highest-risk 'scarlet' zones by health minister Olivier Véran at a press conference later on Wednesday, government sources have said.
The spread of the Covid-19 virus is accelerating in France and already the country's testing system is struggling to cope. Many people are having to wait for tests, long queues have formed at testing stations and laboratories, and delays in results themselves – which can be up to five days – are “unacceptable”, the authorities admit. After pushing the policy of mass testing in the summer the government is now trying to rein back and give precedence to priority cases. Experts say that, once again, the national authorities have failed to anticipate events and demand. One glimmer of hope may be the arrival of new, much faster tests. Caroline Coq-Chodorge reports.
Health minister Olivier Véran said measures would be announced for Lyon and Nice by Saturday, after curbs on public gatherings were imposed this week in Bordeaux and Marseille.
Jean Castex announced measures to create more efficient testing and tracing capacity in the country after France recorded nearly 10,000 new cases in a single day on Thursday.
