Paris is set to shut all bars from Tuesday as coronavirus cases continue to rocket in the French capital.
The restrictions will last two weeks, with full details to be announced on Monday, Prime Minister Jean Castex's office announced.
On Sunday France reported 12,565 cases of Covid-19.
The southern city of Marseille closed bars and restaurants last week.
France's maximum alert level comes into force when the infection rate in a locality exceeds 250 per 100,000 people and at least 30% of intensive care beds are reserved for Covid-19 patients - reports the BBC.
The Prime Minister's office said: "These measures, indispensable in the fight to curb the virus' spread, will apply to Paris and the three departments immediately surrounding it, for a duration of two weeks."
Restaurants in the city will have to put in place new sanitary arrangements in order to stay open and university lecture halls must be no more than half-full.
But restaurants and bistros that serve food as well as alcohol can stay open, as long as they register contact details from customers and shut their doors at 10pm.
Working from home must be prioritised "now more than ever", the statement said.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin acknowledged closing bars would be difficult for Parisians.
He told French TV channel LCI and Europe 1 on Sunday: "We are French, we love to drink, to eat, to live, to smile and to kiss each other."
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On 26 September Marseille, France's second city, closed all bars, restaurants and gyms for two weeks. Public venues including theatres, museums and cinemas have also had to close unless they could introduce strict anti-viral measures.
The measure prompted anger from local officials who said they were not consulted.
The news comes as England could face much tougher coronavirus restrictions in a new 'three tier lockdown' plan if cases continue to rise.
Pubs and restaurants could be forced to close and a ban on social contact outside household groups could be implemented locally or nationally to deal with soaring infections.
The UK has now had 503,000 confirmed cases of the disease, with record daily increases over much of the last fortnight which have, if anything, been under reported due to a 'counting error' by Public Health England.
According to leaked Government documents seen by The Guardian, the draft 'Covid-19 Proposed Social Distancing Framework' plan is designed to simplify the existing localised restrictions.
