France's prime minister has announced that face masks will become compulsory throughout Paris, AFP reported.

There was an “undeniable resurgence” of the Covid-19 epidemic throughout France, Jean Castex told a press conference, with an incidence rate of 39 positive tests per 100,000 of the population — four times the level of a month ago, and rising among all age groups.

The “positivity rate” — the percentage of tests that come back positive — was up from one per cent in May to 3.7pc today, and the so-called “R” rate of viral transmission has risen to 1.4 nationwide, meaning ten infected people are infecting 14 others on average.