A nurse administers a dose of the vaccine against the Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on March 17, 2021 at the Béziers vaccination center at the Zinga Zanga village hall in the south of France. (File photo: AFP)

France, Belgium and Poland on Saturday tightened curbs as coronavirus cases surged in Europe while the Philippines readied for a giant lockdown and Chile confined over 80 percent of its population.

France admitted the situation is "critical" and added three more departments to the 16 already under tight restrictions.

Twenty million people in France, including the greater Paris region, are classed as living in high-infection zones.

They are not allowed to travel further than 10 kilometres (six miles) from home without an essential reason.

Daily cases in France have nearly doubled since the start of the month and there have been more than 200,000 new cases every week.

But that did not stop a crowd turning out for a protest concert outside Saturday evening in central Paris.

Numbers in France's intensive care wards are close to record highs in November and still climbing.

In stark contrast, across the Channel people are relishing the prospect of a pint and a haircut as Prime Minister Boris Johnson vows to stick to his plan to unwind anti-Covid measures.