Paris is closing its bars as the French capital goes on 'maximum alert' amid a new spike in COVID-19 cases

• After seeing a spike in new COVID-19 cases, Paris has closed its bars.
• Restaurants that serve food primarily will be allowed to remain open.
• The city also implemented a new wave of bans, including on student parties, as well as limitations on outdoor gatherings.

Paris, France, is closing down bars after a spike in COVID-19 cases among young people between 20- and 30-years- old, the Guardian reported.

The police chief, Didier Lallement, said restaurants that primarily serve food will be allowed to remain open, in an effort to balance safety with economic and social life.

"This morning we enter a new phase. We are adapting all the time to the development of the virus," he said at a press conference, viewed by The Guardian, BBC, and other outlets. "These measures are aimed at slowing the spread of the virus because it is spreading too quickly."

France has seen nearly 630,000 coronavirus cases since it first appeared late last year, with more than 32,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The country saw an all-time high of new cases in September, according to the university's data.

To combat the rising numbers, specifically younger adults, the city has implemented two weeks of restrictions on student gatherings and the sale of alcohol after 10 p.m., the Guardian reported.

There will also be limitations on indoor and outdoor gatherings, music in public places, and nursing home visitors.

Aurélien Rousseau, the director of the regional health service, told the Guardian that 35% of intensive care hospital beds in the Paris region were full with COVID-19 patients and the number was expected to reach 50%.

"These are braking measures because the epidemic is moving too fast," Lallement said during the press conference on Monday, according to the BBC. "We have to slow it down so that our health system is not overwhelmed," he said.