France closes bars and restaurants over coronavirus

PARIS - France has tightened its restrictions in response to the rising death toll from coronavirus, ordering all non-essential shops and services to close.

Announcing the measures Saturday evening, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe said supermarkets, newsstands and pharmacies will be the only retailers allowed to remain open.

Restaurants, bars, cafés, cinemas and nightclubs will have to close.

"We must absolutely limit movement, meetings and contacts," Philippe said. He added that the government had no choice but to make the move because too many people were still out in the streets and not abiding by earlier measures, including keeping a safe distance from each other.

Public transport would continue to run, but the government said it expected companies to put in place systems for people to work from home beginning Monday.

However, the first round of local elections on Sunday is going ahead.

On Thursday, President Emmanuel Macron said schools, universities and crèches will be shut from Monday due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a televised address to the nation on Thursday evening, Macron outlined a range of measures aimed at curbing the spread of the virus, protecting those particularly vulnerable, maintaining France's health care system and supporting the economy.

"We are only at the beginning of this epidemic. Everywhere in Europe, it is accelerating and intensifying," Macron said at the time.

Some 4,500 people have been tested positive, 300 people are in intensive care and 91 people have died as a result of coronavirus in France.