Paris is among 16 regions of France facing new lockdowns from midnight tomorrow, the country’s prime minister Jean Castex has announced.

He said the nation was in a third wave because of coronavirus variants.

Schools will remain open under the latest measures, but all non-essential shops will be required to close.

The lockdown will last for a month.

French authorities have gone to great lengths to avoid re-imposing the strictest measures, having previously opted for weekend lockdowns and nightly curfews instead.

Skyrocketing case numbers, however, along with a slow vaccine rollout has forced the government to bolster its strategy.

It comes as France on Thursday reported a further 34,998 cases of COVID-19 – down slightly from the more than 38,000 new infections the day before.

Another 268 people have also died, bringing the country’s total fatality toll to 91,679.