Coronavirus: France is one of the best countries at respecting lockdown rules, interior minister says

480,000 French people have been fined since quarantine started, Christophe Castaner says

French people have been among the best in the world at following lockdown rules, according to the country's interior minister.

Christophe Castaner has praised the public for largely following orders to stay at home unless it is essential, even after schools went on holiday.

"Since the start of the checks, there have been nearly 480,000 fines out of 8.2 million checks," he told radio station France Info.

"From what I know and from what I can see, the French are among the best in the world at respecting quarantine measures."

Speaking about the concern people would have tried to go on holiday after schools broke up this weekend, he said people "had not taken the risk".

"Of course, there were some people who broke the rules," he added.

French police ramped up checks at train stations and motorways on Friday to stop people breaking a national lockdown ahead of the holidays.

The government reminded Parisians last week that trying to escape the city did not constitute essential travel and that controls would be reinforced "with utmost firmness".

"Without a valid reason, travellers will be fined for not respecting the confinement rules and will not be allowed to continue their journey or to take their train or plane," the Paris Prefecture said in a statement on Twitter.

People have been told to stay at home since 17 March in a bid to tackle the spread of coronavirus, with people only allowed outside if it is deemed necessary, for example to get groceries or go to work.

The measures have been extended until 15 April.

More than 82,000 people have been infected with coronavirus in France as of Monday, while the death toll stood at around 8,000.

Additional reporting by Reuters