PARIS, Aug 11 — France is extending a ban on public gatherings of more than 5,000 people to Oct. 30 as coronavirus infections rise sharply, Prime Minister Jean Castex said today.

Castex told a news conference that the coronavirus situation in France had been going "the wrong way” for two weeks.

Yesterday, France reported the first significant daily rise in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 since the end of its strict lockdown. — Reuters