France bans gatherings of more than 1,000 over virus fears: minister

French death toll from COVID-19 reached 19

French Health Minister Olivier Veran gives a news briefing after a defence council with President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee palace in Paris, France , March 8, 2020.

France has banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people in an attempt to slow the spread of the COVID-19 , Health Minister Olivier Veran said, as the French death toll reached 19.

All about COVID-19

“All gatherings of more than 1,000 people are from now on banned,” he said on Sunday adding that officials would issue a list of events considered “useful to national life” that would be allowed to continue such as demonstrations.