PARIS: France on Thursday extended the anti-Covid curfew in place in nine cities to large parts of the country, taking to 46 million the number of people forced to stay indoors at night.

Paris and eight other French cities were placed under curfew from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am last weekend as daily new infections hit record levels. At midnight on Friday (2200 GMT) the restrictions will be extended to 38 other departments and French Polynesia for six weeks, taking the numbers affected to around two-thirds of the French population, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced.