France on Thursday announced that the curfew will be extended to an additional 38 departments for six weeks due to the rapid spread of the coronavirus across the country.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex made the announcement describing the situation as "serious" while reiterating that the second wave was upon the country.

"A second wave of the coronavirus epidemic is now under way in France and Europe. The situation is very serious," Castex said.

The new order takes effect from midnight on Friday and persons in the affected areas will have to stay at home between 9pm and 6am.

Castex, who spoke during a press conference, said the order will now affect an estimated 46 million people and will include some overseas French territories.

"The coming weeks will be hard and the number of deaths will continue to rise," he added.

Last week, President Emmanuel Macron announced a night-time curfew in Paris and eight other cities to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Minister of Health Olivier Veran, who was present alongside Castex, said they were hoping to see in the coming week the first positive signs of that initial curfew.

France has reported more than 957,000 confirmed cases and more than 34,00 deaths.

France and a host of other European countries are experiencing a second wave of coronavirus infections. It is one of four countries which have been identified as current coronavirus hot spots on the continent. The others are the UK, Russia and Spain.

(With input from agencies)