EUROPE IN LOCKDOWN

Now Germany seals itself off as draconian curbs sweep the continent

EUROPE entered a dramatic phase of coronavirus lockdown yesterday as sweeping restrictions on travel and socialising were introduced.

Germany announced that both its southern and northern land borders would close from today, while France said it would limit transport within the country – including trains – for the first time.

Chancellor Angela Merkel approved border closures with France, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Denmark from 8am this morning.

Thomas Strobl, interior minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg, said: ‘The spread of the virus has to be slowed. The basic rule should be: anyone who doesn’t urgently need to cross the border should not cross the border.’

The rules will not apply to cargo or cross-border commuters.

For traffic going the other way, France said it would implement tougher checks on people and goods at its frontier with Germany, but insisted this did not represent a border closure.

An interior ministry source said: ‘We are going to limit border crossings to the strict minimum, while allowing people and merchandise to go through. It’s not a closure.’ As France recorded 29 coronavirus deaths yesterday – its highest daily total so far – minister Elisabeth Borne said the government would limit long-distance travel ‘to the strictly necessary’.

Long-distance train traffic will be halved, and only a few international flights maintained, she said, with terminals at the Orly and Charles De Gaulle airports closed by the end of this week.

Last night, Portugal’s prime minister António Costa said he was closing the border with Spain to tourism today, adding: ‘There is a tradition of Spaniards visiting during the Easter holidays. This year is not ideal for that visit.’

In the rest of the EU, Cyprus, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and Lithuania all closed their borders to passenger traffic.

Italy recorded 368 fatalities yesterday, bringing its death toll to more than 1,800. It also reported 3,600 new cases, pushing the total to nearly 25,000.

The total number of deaths in Europe passed 2,000.

Austrian chancellor Sebastian Kurz said citizens should only leave home ‘alone or with the people who live in their apartment’, as he banned gatherings of more than five people.

Spain and Italy have already introduced sweeping social measures, effectively restricting their 106million citizens to their homes except for essential trips to buy food or medicine.

At the weekend, even Berlin began to scale back its famous nightlife. Police began shutting down bars, pubs and clubs across the city on Saturday night, with the city state’s health senator Dilek Kalayci saying: ‘This is simply not the time for parties. Of 263 confirmed cases in Berlin, 42 can be traced back to nightclubs.’

The government in the Netherlands shut down cannabis cafés and sex clubs, as well as all schools, saunas, sports clubs, bars and restaurants. Ministers said they would be shut for three weeks.

Meanwhile, in the United States, there was chaos at the border as thousands of travellers queued to be tested for the virus.

In Britain, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office told citizens not to travel to America after Donald Trump extended a travel ban to include the UK. The FCO advised against all but essential travel there ‘due to restrictions in place by the US government’.

President Trump tweeted to travellers yesterday: ‘Pardon the interruptions and delays, we are moving as quickly as possible, but it is very important that we be vigilant and careful. We must get it right. Safety first!’

Hoboken in New Jersey became the first city in the US to introduce restrictions on socialising. The city imposed a 10pm-to-5am curfew on its 55,000 residents.

Australia, meanwhile, said it would quarantine all international passengers for 14 days.

In Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, was closed indefinitely.

‘It’s simply not the time for parties’