Lockdowns, entry bans imposed to fight global virus spread
Spain’s COVID-19 death toll doubles; UK set to isolate older people; Pope Francis’ Easter services without faithful; Australia orders self-isolation of arriving foreigners; France asks airlines to help citizens stuck in Morocco
Spain and France joined Italy in imposing lockdowns on tens of millions of people, Australia ordered self-isolation of arriving foreigners and other countries extended entry bans as the world sought to contain the spreading coronavirus.
Panic buying in Australia, the United States and Britain saw leaders appeal for calm over the virus that has infected over 156,000 people globally and killed more than 6,000.
Several countries imposed bans on mass gathering, shuttered sporting, cultural and religious events, while medical experts urged people to practice “social distancing” to curb the spread.
Italy death toll from coronavirus outbreak rises to 1,809 from 1,441 on Sunday, a senior health official said.
Spaniards hunkered down in silent cities on Sunday with children’s playgrounds blocked off with police tape, after the government imposed sudden, severe restrictions on public life and the coronavirus death toll more than doubled overnight.
Spain, the second-worst affected European country after Italy, on Saturday ordered its 47 million citizens to stay indoors except for necessary outings such as buying food and medicine. Social gatherings are banned.
The government’s official coronavirus death toll rose by 152 overnight to 288. The number infected rose by 2,000 new cases to 7,753.
Among the high-profile figures to test positive were the prime minister’s wife, two cabinet ministers and five players of top-flight soccer club Valencia.
The sudden Spanish lockdown, along with similarly abrupt moves to curtail public life in France, have astonished Western Europe this weekend, as countries follow Italy in imposing restrictions unseen in peacetime.
Austria’s chancellor urged people to self-isolate and announced bans on gatherings of more than five people and further limits on who can enter the country.
Britain will isolate older people “within weeks” and force into quarantine anyone diagnosed with coronavirus, the government said as it stepped up measures that have so far been less stringent than elsewhere in Europe.
The British Heath Secretary Matt Hancock said people aged over 70 would be shielded from the virus by self-isolating for up to four months, with an announcement “in the coming weeks”.
All of Pope Francis’ Easter services next month will be held without the faithful attending, the Vatican said on Sunday, in a step believed to be unprecedented in modern times.
Australianprimeministerscottmorrisonsaidfrom midnight on Sunday international travellers arriving in the country would need to isolate themselves for 14 days, and foreign cruise ships would be banned for 30 days, given a rise in imported cases.
Australia’s latest restrictions mirror those announcedbyneighbouringnewzealandonsaturday.
Streets in Madrid and Barcelona were deserted on Sunday. All major newspapers carried a frontpage wrapper emblazoned with a governmentpromoted slogan: “Together we’ll stop this virus.”
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said the government had no other option after the public health authority said 91 people had died in France and almost 4,500 were now infected. “We must absolutely limit our movements,” he said. However, French local elections went ahead. “I am going to vote and keep living my life no matter what. I am not scared of the virus,” said a 60-year-old voter, who asked to be identified only as Martine, at a Paris polling station.
All that could be heard on the empty streets of Madrid was the sound of families behind shuttered windows. People played video games, watched TV and sat out on balconies.
Earlier during the day, France has asked airlines to help bring back thousands of French citizens stuck in Morocco after the North African country halted flights because of the coronavirus, French Transport Minister Jean-baptiste Djebbari said on Sunday.
Morocco suspended all international passenger flights on Sunday after it announced a flight ban on 30 countries.
Greece said on Sunday it would ban road and sea routes, as well as flights, to Albania and North Macedonia, and ban flights to and from Spain to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
It extended travel restrictions to Italy, saying it was banning passenger ship routes to and from the neighbouring country, excluding cargo.