Bars, cafes in Paris to close as French capital placed on 'maximum' COVID-19 alert
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The health agency said that Paris had crossed three thresholds to be classified as a maximum alert area
The French government on Monday ordered new restrictions to be placed in capital Paris due to rising coronavirus cases which will come into force from Tuesday and last for two weeks.
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Bars and cafes in Paris will be shut for two weeks under the new measures, however, restaurants will remain open but the restaurants would have to impose new sanitary protocols in order to stay open.
The health agency said that Paris had crossed three thresholds to be classified as a maximum alert area which included general rate of virus, spread among older people and the number of intensive care hospital beds with COVID-19 patients.
Aurelien Rousseau, director of the ARS regional health agency, said that there were 203 active COVID-19 "clusters" in Ile-de-France in Paris.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex's office said there was no improvement in the Paris region while asserting that working from home should be prioritised "now more than ever". The French government also stipulated that university lecture halls should not be more than half full.
"These measures, indispensable in the fight to curb the virus' spread, will apply to Paris and the three departments immediately surrounding it, for a duration of two weeks," the French government said.
France had reported 12,565 coronavirus cases on Sunday with 893 coronavirus patients admitted into intensive care last week.