France bans gatherings of more than 1,000 over virus fears: minister

France has banned all gatherings of more than 1,000 people in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus, Health Minister Olivier Veran said, as the French death toll reached 19.

"All gatherings of more than 1,000 people are from now on banned," he said on Sunday adding that officials would issue a list of events considered "useful to national life" that would be allowed to continue such as demonstrations.