Paris bans outdoor exercise and threatens to hit joggers with £120 fines amid coronavirus lockdown
- France has banned all physical exercise in Paris during daylight hours
- Joggers and walkers who infringe the conditions face fines and even prison
- Paris is now France’s coronavirus epicentre, with cases in the city multiplying
France today banned all physical exercise in Paris during daylight hours as part of its ever-stricter coronavirus lockdown.
In a shock move announced by the city’s Police Prefecture, joggers and walkers were told they would be fined the equivalent of around £120 if found breaking the restrictions.
If they continue to infringe the conditions, then they will face up to six months in prison.
French President Emmanuel Macron waves to residents after visiting a medical center in Pantin, near Paris, on Tuesday
A woman walks her dog on a Paris bridge, with the Eiffel tower seen in background, during a nationwide confinement to counter the COVID-19 on Tuesday. In a shock move announced by the city’s Police Prefecture, joggers and walkers were told they would be fined the equivalent of around £120 if found breaking the restrictions
A lone jogger runs past police as he makes his way on the Champs de Mars in Paris during lockdown
A statement reads: ‘From April 8, 2020, outings for individual sports activities will no longer be authorized 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’.
Paris is now France’s coronavirus epicentre, with cases in the city and its suburbs multiplying.
The deserted Seine river banks pictured in Paris on Tuesday. France today banned all physical exercise in Paris during daylight hours as part of its ever-stricter coronavirus lockdown
A jogger stretches in front the closed entrance of the Orsay Museum in Paris during a lockdown imposed to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease on Tuesday
On Monday, the country reported 833 new coronavirus deaths in over 24 hours, the highest daily toll since the outbreak began.
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 said: ‘We have not reached the end of the end of the ascent of this epidemic.’
French President Emmanuel Macron, wearing a protective face mask, talks with health workers as he visits a medical center in Pantin near Paris as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in France, April 7
A jogger runs past the Eiffel Tower and the Champs de Mars, in Paris on Tuesday. Paris is now France’s coronavirus epicentre, with cases in the city and its suburbs multiplying
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.
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.