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France tightens curfew to curb virus

AAP
France has tightened the evening curfew nationwide to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Camera IconFrance has tightened the evening curfew nationwide to stop the spread of coronavirus.

France has imposed an earlier evening curfew of 6pm in a bid to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Individual regions in France had already pulled forward the curfew, which originally started at 8 pm, but from Saturday the 6pm curfew will apply nationwide.

All shops are to close by that time and anyone violating the rule will face fines or even imprisonment, the Interior Ministry said.

People may not leave their homes between 6pm and 6am to go for walks, exercise or go shopping, but they are allowed to go to work or leave for urgent family reasons.

Interior Minister Jean Castex on Thursday announced that the curfew would remain in place for the next 15 days at least.

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France, with a population of 67 million, has been hit hard by the pandemic, with some 70,000 deaths registered to date.

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