Paris bans outdoor exercise as coronavirus restrictions are intensified

The health authorities in Paris have banned all forms of outdoor exercise as part of its heightened programme of restrictions to curb COVID-19.

The ban is enforced between 10am and 7pm and will come into effect on Wednesday. This prohibits anyone from carrying out any form of outdoor excercise, whether it's jogging or even walking.

Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the chief of police said this would restrict people to exercise "when the streets are generally at their quietest".

France's health minister, Olivier Véran, said that the outbreak in Paris is yet to reaching its peak, arguing that "we are still in a worsening phase of the epidemic."

France has a total of 98,000 COVID-19 cases with 17,000 recoveries and over 8,900 deaths. In terms of coronavirus death-rate, France is just behind USA, Italy and Spain.

The country has been one of the first to introduce very strict lockdown measures: anyone leaving the house is required to carry a document stating his or her reason for leaving isolation, whether it is shopping or a visit to the doctor.

Thousands of people have been fined in France for breaching the quarantine and isolation rules in place. 

France has reported the struggle of care homes to keep up with positive cases of coronavirus as the death toll continues to rise.