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.
Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads scientific council that advises the government on the epidemic, said the situation in about 20 large cities, including Marseille, Bordeaux and the Paris region, was being watched closely.
Calixte Songa Mbappé, 54, a single mother of five, worked on temporary contracts in a care home operated by Paris City Hall when the novel coronavirus epidemic began sweeping through France. In close physical contact with the residents, but not issued with a face mask or other protective clothing, she caught the virus in mid-March and died within weeks. Her financially insecure children are now in an uphill fight for official recognition that her illness was caused at her workplace. Mathilde Goanec reports on an emblematic case of the unsung carers who lost their lives to Covid-19, and the plight of the families left behind.
Sanofi has announced that Kevzara, a drug originally developed with US pharma firm Regeneron for treating arthritis, has failed Phase 3 tests of its effectiveness in treating severe cases of Covid-19 and which involved 420 patients in several countries.
Pupils returned to schools across France on Tuesday at the start of the new academic year amid strict measures to contain transmission of the novel coronavirus, while teacher unions and medics have questioned the adequacy of the plans and recorded virus infections are showing a steep increase.
France has registered a steady buildup in numbers of corornavirus infections over recent days, which health authorities have described as 'very proccupying', while a slight rise in intensive care patients in hospitals suffering from the Covid-19 disease brought the total across the country by Saturday evening to 400.
After a post-lockdown record level of new coronavirus infections in France registered on Wednesday, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced on Thursday that the wearing of face masks to contain transmission of the virus is to be made a legal requirement in all public spaces in Paris, adding that 'The spread of the epidemic could become exponential if we do not react quickly'.
French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has announced that every adult in all types of French schools, which are due to reopen at the beginning of September, must wear a face mask to limit transmission of the coronavirus, overturning an earlier decision to exempt teachers at primary schools from the requirement.
As new admissions of Covid-19 patients to hospitals and intensive care units continued on an upward trend in France over recent weeks, Prime Minister Jean Castex has appealed for 'a sense of responsibility' to encourage young aduts to observe social distancing and mask-wearing after widespread flouting of the measures during the summer holiday period.
The French health ministry on Sunday reported 4,897 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, which is a jump from Saturday's numbers when 3,602 cases were reported.
