Paris, Oct 8 (IANS): France reported nearly 19,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, a new all-time high in the number of single-day infections since the pandemic hit the country earlier this year, according to health authorities.

On Wednesday, there were 18,746 cases, almost double of Tuesday's figure of 10,489, France 24 said in a news report.

With the new figure, the country's overall caseload stood at 653,509.

With 80 new fatalities, the death toll increased to 32,445.

Responding to the new figures, President Emmanuel Macron said in a TV interview that his government would introduce new stricter restrictions to curb the virus from further spreading.

"In places where the disease is circulating too quickly, there will be new restrictions," France 24 quoted the President as saying.

In the wake of the spike in the number of fresh coronavirus cases, bars across Paris were shut completely for two weeks from Tuesday onwards.

The development came after the government raised the capital city's Covid-19 alert to the maximum level, which is imposed when the infection rate in a locality exceeds 250 per 100,000 people and at least 30 per cent of intensive care beds are reserved for infected patients, the BBC reported.

On September 26, Marseille, the third biggest French city, closed all bars, restaurants and gyms also for a period of two weeks.