Paris becomes the second French city to order bars to close again as infections continue to rise

Paris will shut all bars completely from Tuesday after the French government raised the city’s coronavirus alert to maximum following a period of high infection rates.

Bars, gyms and swimming pools will 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.

On Sunday France reported 12,565 cases of Covid-19.

“These are braking measures because the epidemic is moving too fast,” police chief Didier Lallement said during a press conference on Monday.

“We have to slow it down so that our health system is not overwhelmed,” he added.

France’s maximum alert level comes into force when the infection rate in a locality exceeds 250 infections per 100,000 people and at least 30% of intensive care beds are reserved for Covid-19 patients.

There are 203 active coronavirus “clusters” in the wider Paris region, health officials say.