Coronavirus: Paris bans daytime outdoor exercise

Authorities in Paris have banned exercise outside during the day, as deaths from coronavirus continue to rise in France daily.

The new rules are in force between 10:00 and 19:00 local time, and come into effect on Wednesday.

The death toll in France has risen above 10,000 - the fourth-highest figure after Italy, Spain and the US.

The toll in French hospitals - not counting care homes - was 607 for the past 24 hours, health officials said.

The total now is 10,328, a rise of 16% compared with the Monday total. However, the latest data for care homes is not complete.

Paris residents face further restrictions on exercise. Getty Images

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo and the chief of police said the new jogging rules would make people exercise "when the streets are generally at their quietest".

• Italy, with the world's highest death toll, registered 604 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours. So its downward trend is continuing - the figure on Monday was 636. The total has now reached 17,127
• Spain, the second worst-hit country, saw a rise in deaths for the first time in five days on Tuesday - 743, compared to 637 in the previous 24 hours. That pushed the total to 13,798, but the percentage daily increase is about half the level that Spain had a week ago

The Paris daytime jogging ban followed a sunny weekend marked by large groups of people running and walking in the city's parks, despite police controls that include fines for violating the lockdown.

On Tuesday, French Health Minister Olivier Véran said the outbreak had yet to reach its peak, telling broadcaster BFMTV, "We are still in a worsening phase of the epidemic."

France has been under strict lockdown measures for almost a month. Anyone who goes outside is required to carry a document stating their reason for leaving home: shopping for necessities, visiting a doctor, or exercise within 1km (half a mile) of their address.

Police have fined hundreds of thousands of people for breaking the tight restrictions.

There have been positive signs that the outbreak may be slowing. Monday's figures from the French health ministry showed only a small rise of people who need intensive care treatment.

But there have also been concerns about the situation in French care homes. Until recently, reported deaths from the virus only included those who died in hospitals, and not elsewhere.

Mr Véran on Monday announced there would be a "vast operation" nationwide to screen nursing homes, their residents and their careworkers, in a bid to tackle the crisis there.

(Source: BBC)