French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has ordered the closure of all non-essential public locations from midnight (23:00 GMT Saturday) in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The measure applies to restaurants, cafes, cinemas and discos, as well as non-essential businesses.

Mr Philippe also called on French people to reduce their travel, especially between towns.

France reported a sharp rise in cases on Saturday, from 3,661 to 4,499.

See below Re: Social distancing.

Martin Hirsch, General Manager of the Paris hospitals system, declared that most caregivers who contracted the virus (about 50 to date) did so during their "social life" (restaurants, movies etc...) rather than at the hospital. Given the generally insouciant attitude of most people for the past couple of weeks, despite the public health authorities recommendations about hand washing etc... this is hardly surprising. However, many people might flip from unconcerned to completely panicked overnight.