Coronavirus-hit Paris bans outdoor exercise during the day with joggers facing 6 months in jail if they break rules
FRANCE today banned all outdoor exercise in Paris during daylight hours as part of ever-stricter coronavirus lockdown measures.
In a shock move announced by the city’s cops, joggers and walkers were told they would be fined the equivalent of around £120 if found breaking the restrictions.
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If they continue to break the rules they could face up to six months in prison.
Police said: “From April 8, 2020, outings for individual sports activities will no longer be authorised between 10am and 7pm throughout the Paris area.
“They therefore remain authorised from 7pm to 10am, when the crowds in the streets are at their smallest.”
Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris and Didier Lallement, the police prefect, said in the joint statement that they had taken the decision to avoid “any form of laxity” that would “jeopardise the efforts made so far”.
BRIT BAN WARNING
It comes just a day after UK Heath Secretary Matt Hancock threatened to ban all outdoor exercise in Britain if people kept breaking the rules.
His warning was sparked by images of thousands ignoring the lockdown to lounge in parks and on beaches sunning themselves over the weekend.
Paris is now France’s coronavirus epicentre, with cases in the city and its suburbs multiplying.
In the Ile-de-France region which Paris is a part of - there have been 2,355 deaths and 11,762 confirmed cases.
On Monday, the country reported 833 new coronavirus deaths in over 24 hours – the highest daily toll since the outbreak began.
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The total number of people in France who have died after testing positive for Covid-19 now stands at 8,911, while the number of infections is 98,010.
Health Minister Olivier Véran warned: “We have not reached the end of the end of the ascent of this epidemic.”
Data showed that 605 people had died in hospitals during the past 24 hours and another 228 had died in nursing homes – both 10 per cent increases.
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Mr Véran added: “It is not over. Far from that.
“The path is long. The figures that I have announced show this.
“Stay at home and continue this confinement effort.”
Fines worth some £650million have so far been handed out to those breaking lockdown conditions across the country.
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