PARIS — Beach resorts along France’s Atlantic coast, picturesque promenades on the Loire River, farmers markets in the Alps — they’re among scores of spots around France where everyone is now required to wear a mask outdoors.

The outdoor mask rules taking effect Monday are on top of a nationwide decree last month requiring people to wear masks in all stores and other indoor public places. Pressure is growing on the government to mandate outdoor mask use on a national level, too.

France is seeing an uptick in coronavirus infections, with hundreds of new clusters in recent weeks, notably as young people gather at waterside cafes or dance parties and families get together for summer vacation.

Several sites around France have started requiring masks outdoors in recent days. Starting Monday, 69 towns in the Mayenne region of western France imposed outdoor mask rules, as did parts of the northern city of Lille and coastal city of Biarritz in French Basque country.

France has reported 7,000 new cases in the last week, after bringing the virus nearly under control with a strict two-month nationwide lockdown, and has confirmed 30,265 virus-related deaths since the pandemic began.

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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

— Parents struggle as schools reopen amid coronavirus surge

— COVID relief bill remains up in air as negotiations resume

— Debate begins for who’s first in line for COVID-19 vaccine

— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak

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ISLAMABAD — Even as Pakistan recorded one of its lowest 24-hour infection rates with just 330 new cases reported on Monday, the government announced a new countrywide lockdown through Aug. 17, with grocery stores and pharmacies allowed to open.

Mosques and churches will also be allowed to stay open, but with social distancing and masks.

The new lockdown follows the Muslim holiday of Eid ul Adha, which ended Monday in Pakistan. The lockdown was imposed to avoid a spike in cases that occurred in June after Pakistanis celebrated the earlier Muslim holiday of Eid ul Fitr.

In mid-June, Pakistan recorded more than 6,000 new daily cases of the virus. Since then, it has been on a steady decline. The death rate has also dropped, with only eight fatalities reported Monday.

Overall, Pakistan has confirmed 280,029 cases, including 5,984 deaths.

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CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s prime minister announced a 1,500 Australian dollar ($1,060) payment for workers in a hot spot state who must self-isolate for 14 days and don’t have paid sick leave.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison described the payment that will be available from Wednesday as disaster relief and it was offered after the Victoria government declared a COVID-19 disaster in the city of Melbourne on Sunday.

“It’s heartbreaking. This pandemic, this virus is taking a heavy toll and now’s the time, as it has been throughout this pandemic, that we continue to provide support to one another,” Morrison said.

The Victoria government is concerned that many infections are being driven by people who are tested for COVID-19 and return to work before they get the results back, usually two days later.

Starting late Wednesday, non-essential businesses will close in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city, to try to curb the outbreak.

Industries that will have to close on-site operations for six weeks include most retail and manufacturing. Most construction businesses and meat works will have to scale down staff and operations.

Victoria on Monday announced 429 new infections and 13 more deaths overnight.

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MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is reimposing a moderate lockdown in the Philippine capital and outlying provinces after medical groups appealed for the move as coronavirus infections surge alarmingly.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Monday that metropolitan Manila, the capital region of more than 12 million people, and five densely populated provinces will revert to stricter quarantine restrictions for two weeks starting Tuesday. Mass public transport will be barred and only essential travel will be allowed.

Leaders of nearly 100 medical organizations held a rare online news conference Saturday and warned that the health system has been overwhelmed by infection spikes and may collapse as health workers fall ill or resign from exhaustion and fear.

They asked Duterte to reimpose a tight lockdown in the capital to allow health workers “a timeout” and allow the government to recalibrate its response to the pandemic.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines surged past 103,000 on Sunday and is second-most in Southeast Asia.

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NEW DELHI — Indian health authorities have given approval to the Serum Institute of India for conducting phase two and three trials of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford.

The approval came late Sunday from the Drugs Controller General of India. At least 1,600 adults will participate in the trials.

Serum, the world’s largest maker of vaccines by volume, is mass-producing the vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford. It’s one of several candidates being developed.

Meanwhile, India’s coronavirus caseload Monday crossed 1.8 million with another spike of 52,972 new cases in the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry on Monday also reported 771 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 38,135.

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BEIJING — An outbreak in China’s far northwestern region of Xinjiang is continuing to subside, with 28 new cases reported Monday.

The outbreak of 590 cases so far has been concentrated in the capital, Urumqi, where authorities have conducted mass testing, cut public transport, isolated some communities and restricted travel.

Seven other new cases were imported and eight were in the northeastern province of Liaoning. No new deaths were reported, leaving China’s total at 4,634 among 84,428 reported cases of COVID-19.

Yet, while mainland China’s latest outbreak appears to have peaked, authorities in the semi-autonomous Chinese city of Hong Kong are struggling to contain infections, with more than 200 added over the weekend.

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PRISTINA, Kosovo – Kosovar Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said he had the coronavirus and was isolating at home.

Hoti posted on Facebook he had no symptoms other than a light cough. He didn’t mention if any of his close staff had been infected or if they were self-quarantining.

Kosovo health authorities have reported significant increases in new virus cases and deaths in the last month, a trend which is continuing.

New lockdown measures like restrictions on public gatherings have been imposed, and authorities are trying to find more hospital beds.

They reported 8,799 cases and 249 deaths as of Sunday.