New curbs as virus weighs on public life, travel, worship

A  new round of restrictions and border closures was announced in Europe and beyond yesterday as public life and travel increasingly ground to a halt and even worship was disrupted amid efforts to keep people apart and slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Spain awoke to the first day of a nationwide quarantine. Austria’s chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, said his government was limiting people’s movement nationwide, shortly after the country’s Tyrol province followed Italy and Spain in barring people from leaving their homes except for essential errands and work. Europe is currently the main front line of the fight against COVID-19.

Other than essential errands, people should go out “only alone or with the people with whom [they] live in their apartment,” Kurz, whose country has confirmed 800 infections, told the Austria Press Agency. Neighboring Slovenia said it would shut down all public transport starting today and planned to shut all but food shops and pharmacies.

Estonia and Latvia said they would close their borders to foreign nationals, except residents, from tomorrow. Turkey put aside quarantine beds for more than 10,000 people returning from pilgrimage to Islam’s holy sites in Saudi Arabia.

Italy, the worst-hit European country with more than 21,000 infections and 1,400 deaths, ratcheted its nearly week-old lockdown still tighter. The transport ministry banned passengers from taking ferries to the island of Sardinia, and also banned overnight train trips — which many in the worst-affected north had been taking to reach homes and families in the south.

Spain joined Italy on lockdown after the government declared a two-week state of emergency.

In Barcelona, people who ventured out on quiet streets to buy bread at one bakery formed long lines with a meter between each person as recommended by authorities to reduce the risk of contagion. Police patrolled parks and told people who were not taking their dog on a quick walk to go home.

A police patrol car cruised Barcelona’s streets slowly a with loudspeaker blasting a recorded message that people should respect the restrictions on movement.

The state of emergency “is necessary to unify our efforts so we can all go in the same direction,” Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau said yesterday. “If we show solidarity and think about one another we can get through this. Other countries have, and it is in our hands to give our best answer to this huge challenge.”

Spain’s government said late Saturday that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife had tested positive for the coronavirus. Begoña Gómez and the prime minister are in good health, the government said.

There were tough steps in Southeast Asia too: soldiers and police sealed the densely populated Philippine capital, Manila, from most domestic travellers in one of the region’s most drastic containment measures. In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, President Joko Widodo asked all people to work, study and worship from home.

Travellers scrambling to return to the U.S. after the Trump administration imposed a wide-ranging ban on people entering from Europe faced hours-long waits for required medical screenings.

Videos and photos posted on social media showed packed, winding lines of returning travelers. On Twitter, airports like Dallas/Fort Worth and Chicago O’Hare acknowledged the delays and asked for patience.

In China, where the virus was first detected in December, those arriving on overseas flights were routed to a converted exhibition center for initial checks before being shuttled off to their homes or other quarantine locations.

It was clear, however, that the center of gravity in the crisis had shifted toward Europe and North America. The virus has infected more than 156,000 people worldwide and killed over 5,800. China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Spain are the countries with the most cases. Joseph Wilson & Geir Moulson, Barcelona, AP