PARIS, Oct 5 : City authorities in the French capital on Monday ordered an imminent lockdown on almost all leisure activities and centres in an attempt to slow the fast-spreading COVID-19 virus, Mayor Anne Hidalgo and other officials said. Speaking at a press conference, Hidalgo warned Paris was in an exceptionally serious situation and measures must be taken to protect citizens.

The Paris Prefect, Didier Lallamant, who is in charge of security, said "the virus is moving too fast" and he said Paris was now labelled "a maximum alert" zone that requires more restrictions. As of Tuesday, all cafes, cinemas, gyms, clubs and other social or leisure centres will close for 15 days.
The government has backed down on closing all restaurants and will allow some to open with 50 percent capacity as long as tables are limited to six patrons and distance of one metre is maintained between tables.
Masks, which are already required everywhere in the city, must be worn, except while eating.

City Hall officials indicated Monday that there are between 3,000-5,000 new cases of coronavirus every day in Paris, where almost 40 percent of hospital beds are now occupied by virus-infected patients. Over the past month, there has been a sharp upsurge in COVID-19 cases in France, with over 10,000 new cases every day and a peak last week of almost 17,000 cases in one day. The indicators for the city now are the same as they were in May shortly after the peak of the epidemic, Hidalgo said. (KUNA)