Holidaymakers heading to Paris this summer must wear a face mask in crowded outdoor spaces or face an on-the-spot fine.

Officials said the new measures were necessary in order to halt the spread of infection, after warnings the country could be added to the quarantine list.

The infection rate has risen from 17 per 100,000 to 26 per 100,000 in the last week.

Now tourists in popular spots like along the Seine must wear a mask or pay a fine of €135 (£120).

Anyone caught flouting the rules more than three times in a month can face six months in prison.

The new measure was imposed on Saturday following a surge in infection rates since mid-July.

In an update, the Foreign Office has warned: "Parisian local authorities have announced that wearing masks in certain busy outdoor public spaces is compulsory from Monday 10 August, for those aged 11 and over."

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Image:
AFP via Getty Images)

Masks were already compulsory in all indoor public spaces like shops and banks since July 21.

They are already required in crowded spaces outdoors in Toulouse, Lille, Nice, Saint-Tropez and Marseilles.

The new measures - which will run for a month - covers both banks of the Seine and streets with crowded shops and outdoor markets.

And areas where tourists may have to queue like Gare du Nord and Montmartre.

Masks are already required on popular attractions like the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe.

The country is being closely watched after a spike in coronavirus cases.

Holidaymakers currently have the green light to travel - but could find quarantine measures being imposed swiftly if the rate of infection continues to rise.

The government's top scientific body has said that the outbreak could slip out of control.

In a statement, officials warned this week: "The situation is precarious. We could at any moment tip into a scenario that is less under control, like in Spain.

"It is highly likely that we will experience a second epidemic wave this autumn or winter."

Boris Johnson has said ministers will “not hesitate” to impose a quarantine system for travellers from other countries to the UK if needed.

The Prime Minister said: “I don’t want to advise people about their individual holidays, individual decisions, they should look at the travel advice from the Foreign Office clearly.

But what I will say, and I hope people would expect us to do this, in the context of a global pandemic, we’ve got to keep looking at the data in all the countries to which British people want to travel.

“Where it is necessary to impose restrictions or to impose a quarantine system, we will not hesitate to do so.

“It’s been a huge effort for the entire population of this country to get the disease down to the levels that we are currently seeing, but we do not want reinfection and that’s why we’ve got to keep a very, very close eye on the data in destinations around the world.”