France goes into unprecedented peacetime lockdown as coronavirus spreads

A man carrying his belongings walks on the Pont des Arts in Paris after French President ordered stringent restrictions on people's movement to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), France, March 17, 2020. REUTERS/Christian Hartmann

PARIS (Reuters) - France put its 67 million people under lockdown on Tuesday, in an unprecedented act during peacetime, and said it was ready to nationalise big companies suffering financial turmoil created by the deepening coronavirus crisis.

Drafting in the army to help transport gravely ill people and ordering border controls, President Emmanuel Macron late on Monday said citizens could leave their homes only to buy food, go to work, seek medical care or get some exercise on their own.