French PM Jean Castex announced on Thursday a month-long limited lockdown for Paris and other regions of the country starting Friday as the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units spikes, FRANCE 24 reported. The new restrictions will be imposed on 16 regions, including the Paris area.

The coronavirus situation is worsening in the greater Paris region where hospitals are under immense strain, the director general of the AP-HP Paris hospitals organisation Martin Hirsch said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. "The virus is not under control. There are as many patients in intensive care units today as there were at the peak of the second wave," Hirsch told RTL radio.

The more contagious British variant "now accounts for about half of people infected with Covid-19 in France", PM Jean Castex said during a press conference on Thursday, news wires reported. He also said France could impose new measures including weekend lockdowns in Paris and 19 other departments in the country from early March if coronavirus cases continue to escalate.

France is closing its borders to people arriving from outside the European Union starting Sunday to try to stop the spread of new variants of the coronavirus and to avoid a third lockdown, news wires reported.

France's government announced on Thursday it would delay unwinding some Covid-19 lockdown restrictions next week, news wires reported. PM Jean Castex said the government would lift a restriction on people's movement from 15 December but replace it with an 8pm curfew, including on New Year's Eve. An exception will be made for Christmas Eve, he added.

France's PM Jean Castex said on Thursday the county's lockdown will continue unchanged for at least the next 15 days and cafes, bars and gyms are likely to remain closed for longer. When France went into lockdown for the second time on 30 October, President Emmanuel Macron promised a review of the situation after two weeks.

French PM Jean Castex announced on Thursday a vast extension of the nightly curfew that is intended to curb the spiraling spread of the coronavirus, saying the second wave is here, news wires reported.

France will make it compulsory to wear a face mask indoors in public places from next week, the government said on Thursday as the country reported an uptick in new coronavirus cases. The masks will become compulsory in all indoor places frequented by the public, PM Jean Castex said in the Senate.

The French government said Wednesday it is preparing for a second wave of COVID-19 cases that could emerge in the coming months, but will not respond with another nationwide lockdown to contain the outbreak.

The Elysee Palace announced on Monday the makeup of the new French government under PM Jean Castex, which will focus on the economy recovery in coronaviris pandemic and it is also expected to inject fresh momentum into the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.