EU leaders impose 30-day travel restrictions
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders agreed Tuesday to immediately impose travel restrictions on most foreigners entering Europe for at least 30 days to limit the spread of the new coronavirus, and to set up fast-track transport lanes to keep vital medical equipment, food and goods flowing smoothly inside the bloc.
As the virus case count in Europe climbed to over 60,000 and with more than 2,700 people dead, national governments have introduced measures such as partial border closures and quarantines with little consultation.
“We reaffirmed the need to work together and do everything necessary to tackle the crisis and its consequences,” European Council President Charles Michel told reporters. He said the 27 EU countries agreed to impose border restrictions on tourism and nonessential business “as fast as possible.”
The plan exempts longterm EU residents, diplomats, some health care and transport workers.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said her proposal for the restrictions “got a lot of support by the member states. It’s up to them now to implement. They said they will immediately do that.”
Chancellor Angela Merkel said the leaders agreed in a conference call to an entry ban with “very, very limited exceptions,” and that Germany would start implementing it immediately.
Merkel said citizens of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, the United Kingdom and Norway are exempt. The EU leaders also agreed to coordinate the repatriation of EU citizens stranded outside the bloc, she said.
Von der Leyen said they also backed a proposal to set up “green lanes” for trucks and other priority vehicles aimed at beating the traffic jams that have formed around crossing points on internal borders, where no ID or vehicle checks were required just days ago.
Those transport guidelines, she said, “have to be implemented now.”
Meanwhile, disruptions shuddered across the globe Tuesday. The chaos was evident in Lithuania, where border traffic jams were nearly 40 miles deep.
“We are all desperate, cold and sleepless here for a third day,” said Janina Stukiene, who was stuck in Lithuania on the border with Poland with her husband and son. “We just want to go home.”
The line of cars and trucks in Lithuania was formed after Poland closed its border. Similar traffic jams were visible on the borders with Germany and the Czech Republic.
French President Emmanuel Macron tightened internal guidelines, allowing people to leave home only to buy food, go to work or do essential tasks. He said people had not complied with earlier guidelines, and “we are at war.”
In Italy, reported infections jumped to 27,980. With 2,503 deaths, Italy now accounts for a third of the global death toll.
Spain, now the fourth-most infected country, saw the number of people with the virus rise by more than 2,000 in one day to 11,178. The nation also saw virus-related deaths jump by almost 200 to 491 and learned that 17 elderly residents of a nursing home in Madrid died over a five-day period.
Spain has also imposed lockdowns, confining citizens to their homes except for urgent business like buying food or heading to any hospital that might still have the capacity to treat them.
Nine countries have informed the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, that they’ve reintroduced ID checks inside Europe’s passport-free Schengen Area. Among them are Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which all took unilateral action to halt the influx of migrants in 2015.
The EU proposals endorsed Tuesday are relatively modest, as Europe’s centralized powers in this crisis are limited. While it may be a union, the world’s biggest trading bloc remains an accumulation of 27 individual countries, some with populist and far-right governments that reject orders from Brussels.
In the Mideast, Iran issued its most dire warning yet Tuesday about the new coronavirus ravaging the country, suggesting “millions” could die in the Islamic Republic if people keep traveling and ignore health guidance.
The death toll in Iran saw another 13% increase Tuesday. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said the virus had killed 135 more people to raise the total to 988 amid over 16,000 cases.
Jordan announced a state of emergency, banning gatherings of more than 10 people, and Israel issued its own strict guidelines.
The global number of cases worldwide has topped 190,000.
Some bright spots emerged. Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the virus was first detected late last year and which has been under lockdown for weeks, reported just one new case Tuesday.
Information for this article was contributed by David Rising, Tim Sullivan, Frank Jordans, Karel Janicek, Elliot Spagat, Colleen Long, Alan Clendenning, Frank Jordans, Kirsten Grieshaber, Geir Moulson, Jocelyn Gecker, Ed White, Sylvie Corbet, Aritz Parra, Adam Geller, Mike Corder, Jill Lawless, Maria Cheng, Liudas Dapkus, Colleen Barry, Mehdi Fattahi, Aron Heller, Omar Akour, Bassem Mroue, Samy Magdy, Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell of The Associated Press.