France imposes earlier curfew to curb infections

In France, the evening curfew is due to begin earlier, at 6 pm (1700 GMT), in a measure that enters force on Saturday and aims to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

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

People may not leave their homes between 6 pm and 6 am 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.

Individual regions in France had already pulled forward the curfew which originally started at 8 pm.

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