A woman crosses a nearly empty Duomo square in downtown Milan, Italy. Photo / AP
A woman crosses a nearly empty Duomo square in downtown Milan, Italy. Photo / AP
Spain locked down its 46 million citizens Saturday and France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema — as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.
More borders snapped shut around the globe, with the US announcing that it will extend its European travel ban to Britain and Ireland, where cases are on the rise.
People walk by the Louvre Museum, in Paris. Photo / AP
China, meanwhile, where the virus first appeared late last year, continued to relax its drastic restrictions, illustrating the way the centre of gravity in the crisis has shifted westward toward Europe.
The virus has infected more than 150,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,600.
This comes as the World Health Organisation has named Europe as the new epicentre of the virus.
Spain's Drastic Lockdown
According to the Spanish government, people will only be allowed to leave their homes to buy food and medicine, commute to work, go to medical centres and banks, or take trips related to the care for the elderly, the young, and dependants. Those limitations are effective immediately.
Spain is also closing all restaurants, bars, hotels, schools and universities nationwide, and other non-essential retail outlets, a move some of its hardest- hit communities have already carried out.
Health authorities said Saturday that coronavirus infections in Spain had reached 5,753 people, half of them in Madrid, since the first case was detected in Spain in late January. That represents a national increase of over 1,500 in 24 hours.
The country - which also recorded 136 deaths, up from 120 - has the fifth- highest number of cases, behind China, Italy, Iran and South Korea.
Jet2 planes heading to Spain turned back in mid-air on Saturday as the airline cancelled all flights to the country because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The airline, which flies from nine UK airports to destinations including Alicante, Málaga and Lanzarote, said it was cancelling all flights to mainland Spain, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands immediately.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez acknowledged on Friday that the number of infections could reach 10,000 in the coming days.
"From now we enter into a new phase," Sanchez said. "We won't hesitate in doing what we must to beat the virus. We are putting health first." Sanchez added that all police forces, including those run by local authorities, will be put under the orders of the Interior Minister and that the armed forces are on stand-by.
"At any moment, when it is necessary, we can count on the deployment of the armed forces. The army is ready," Sanchez said.
Spain has followed Italy's path in implementing a similar lockdown after both European countries failed to contain the virus in regional hotspots.
People wave and applaud at the Garbatella neighborhood, in Rome. Photo / AP
The state of emergency also gives the government the power to take control of private hospitals to reinforce its large public health service that is being pushed to the brink in the capital and other areas.
The strain on Madrid's medical system had led local authorities to devise a plan to convert hotels into temporary wards to care for less serious patients and clear space in the overburdened critical care areas.
France Steps Up Precautions
France ordered the closing of just about everything the rest of the world loves about it - the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the cafes, restaurants and cinema - as governments took increasingly desperate measures to put more space between people and contain the coronavirus.
A man wearing a mask walks pasts the Eiffel tower closed after the French government banned all gatherings of over 100 people. Photo / AP
"I have decided on the closure until further notice from midnight of places that receive the public that are non-essential to the life of the country," Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told reporters.
"This includes notably cafes, restaurants, cinemas and discos."
Top health official Jerome Salomon meanwhile announced that the death toll from COVID-19 had risen by 12 over the last day in France to 91, with the total number of infected standing at 4,500.
Salomon added that France was from now at its highest sanitary alert level of stage three, which means that the virus is now circulating actively across French territory.
He added that the number of those infected had doubled over the last 72 hours. Philippe said that the new measures were being adopted after the first measures announced in France to fight the virus were "imperfectly applied".
Places of worship would stay open but all services and ceremonies would have to be postponed, he said.
Shops would also have to close with the exception of essential services like supermarkets and pharmacies, he added.
Public transport would continue to work, but Philippe urged the French to "limit their movements" and avoid inter-city travel.
People walk past posters advertising the upcoming local elections, in Lille, northern France. Photo / AP
But he insisted that despite the strict new rules, the first round of local elections would go ahead as planned on Sunday while "respecting strictly the guidelines of distancing".
"I know the French will show their calm, their civic mentality and their ability to obey the rules we have set out for their own security," Philippe said.
Italy's Lockdown Continues
In Italy, the worst-hit European country, the number of deaths climbed past 1400 and infections surged roughly 20 per cent overnight to more than 21,000 because of what authorities characterised as irresponsible behaviour by people still socialising despite the country-wide lockdown.
A view of the empty square facing the Trevi fountain, in Rome. Photo / AP
Many Italian cities including Rome and Milan decided to close playgrounds and parks, too.
Premier Giuseppe Conte has said production - particularly of food and health supplies - must not stop and, on Saturday, union and industrial leaders reached an agreement to keep factories running.
But luxury sports car maker Ferrari said it was suspending production at two plants, citing concern for its employees and serious disruptions in the flow of supplies.
A video taken by a man living near Bergamo, Italy, shows the huge toll of the coronavirus outbreak in the region.
On March 13, Giovanni Locatelli, who resides in Curno, Italy, recorded himself paging through the obituaries in two copies of the local paper, L'Eco di Bergamo. The first, published on February 9, has fewer than two full pages of obituaries. The next, published on the morning of March 13, has ten pages full of obituaries for those who have recently died.
Italy has the largest number of confirmed cases and deaths due to COVID-19 outside of China. The outbreak has centered in the northern region of Lombardy where Bergamo is located.
One of the main shopping streets in Rome, Italy is completely deserted . Photo / AP
Iran's Death Toll
Iran said yesterday that the coronavirus outbreak has killed another 97 people, pushing the death toll in the country to 611, as war-ravaged Syria announced a number of strict measures despite the government saying it has no confirmed cases.
Iran is suffering from the worst outbreak in the Middle East, with 12,729 cases and even senior officials testing positive.
Firefighters disinfect a street against the new coronavirus, in western Tehran, Iran. Photo / AP
There are concerns that the number of infections in Iran is much higher than the confirmed cases reported by the government, with some Iranian lawmakers having questioned the official toll.
Satellite images captured by US space technology company Maxar Technologies appear to show evidence of mass burial pits in Iran to accommodate a growing number of deaths from the coronavirus outbreak.
The images show what appear to be new rows of graves within the city's largest cemetery and increased activity around the new site.
A video has also surfaced of multiple motionless bodies laid out across a morgue floor in Iran.
Drastic Travel Restrictions
Jacinda Ardern has announced New Zealand will have the world's 'toughest border restrictions' — and they start from midnight tonight.
Every person who enters the country will now be required to enter self-isolation for 14 days.
"I make no apologies," Ardern said at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
She will announce a multi-billion dollar economic stimulus on Tuesday as New Zealand awakens to the shock measures needed to weather the storm created by the global pandemic.
Meanwhile, the USA declared a national emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic Saturday morning AEST.
President Trump also expanded its European travel ban for coronavirus, adding Britain and Ireland to the list.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern during her media conference in Christchurch. Photo / AP
In Britain, the death toll nearly doubled from the day before to 21, and the number of people infected rose to over 1100.
People in Britain aged over 70 will be instructed soon by the government to stay in strict isolation for four months as part of a planned response to coronavirus, broadcaster ITV's political editor says.
Ireland had 90 confirmed cases and one death as of Friday.
Greece's infection total approached 230 with three deaths, and police there arrested 45 shopkeepers on Saturday for violating a ban on operations. The US reported 51 deaths - including the first in New York - and more than 2100 cases.
Europeans countries moved to isolate themselves from their neighbours. Denmark closed its frontiers and halted passenger traffic to and from the country, with travellers to be turned away at the border if they are unable to show that they have "a legitimate reason" to enter - for example, if they are Danish citizens or residents.
"I know that the overall list of measures is very extreme and will be seen as very extreme, but I am convinced that it's worth it," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Poland planned to close its borders at midnight and deny all foreigners entry unless they lived in Poland or had personal ties there.
Coronavirus advice in the customs hall at Auckland International Airport in response to the outbreak. Photo / AP
The Czech Republic and Slovakia took similar action while Lithuania said it was introducing border checks at the frontiers with Poland and Latvia. Russia said its borders with Norway and Poland will be closed to most foreigners beginning on Sunday.
In the Middle East, Iran's death toll reached 611, with nearly 13,000 infections, including senior government officials.
The spread of COVID-19 in China has slowed dramatically, according to the National Health Commission.
After reporting thousands of new cases per day only a month ago, the commission said on Saturday that there were 13 new deaths and just 11 new cases, including people who recently arrived in China from other affected countries like Italy.
