Coronavirus: Europe now epicentre of pandemic as travel restrictions imposed across continent

More cases now reported every day than were recorded in China at height of its epidemic

Europe is now the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday, as a spike in cases saw further travel restrictions imposed across the continent.

More cases are now being reported in Europe every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the organisation.

He added that Europe also had more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, excluding China.

“Our message to countries continues to be: you must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone, not contact tracing alone, not quarantine alone, not social distancing alone – do it all,” he said.

“Any countries that look at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks ‘that won’t happen to us’ is making a deadly mistake – it can happen to any country.”

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Describing the global death toll of 5,000 as “a tragic milestone”, he also announced a WHO “solidarity response plan” that would allow people and organisations to help fund masks, gloves, gowns and goggles for heath workers, as well as diagnostic kits and investment in research and development, including for vaccines.

In Italy, the number of infections has soared by more than 2,500 in 24 hours, while virus-related deaths made the largest single-day jump of 250.

It took the total number of cases in the country to 17,660, and the number of related deaths to 1,266.

In the hardest-hit Lombardy region, hospitals were overflowing with both the sick and the dead. The country’s restaurants, cafes and retail shops closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies and markets were allowed to operate, with orderly lines of evenly spaced customers forming outside to avoid crowds inside.

France, Spain and Germany all exceeded 2,000 cases each. Panic buying was seen around the continent.

Health chiefs in Germany and Italy scrambled for ventilators as manufacturers warned on Friday that hospitals faced a lack of vital equipment.

Elsewhere in Europe, new travel restrictions sprang up practically by the hour on Friday: Switzerland, Portugal and the Czech Republic all started barring entry to people considered at risk.

New infections also rose sharply in Spain, where the government put 60,000 people in four towns on a mandatory lockdown that echoed Italy’s.

In Madrid, which is struggling with nearly 2,000 infections, many in nursing homes, the government was pooling intensive care units and considering offers by hotel chains to transform rooms into sick wards.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez announced a two-week state of emergency, pledging to “mobilise all resources”, including the military.

France recorded an extra 800 cases, reaching more than 3,600.

The European Union urged member countries to put health screening procedures in place at their borders.

Canada and Denmark joined the US in advising citizens to avoid trips abroad, and Americans in Europe caught increasingly rare transatlantic flights back home.

Donald Trump also announced that the travel ban on people coming from Europe may be extended to the UK.

The exponential spread of the virus in Europe, North America and the Middle East has drawn contrasts with waning outbreaks in the hardest-hit nations in Asia.

Many countries have restricted the size of permitted gatherings, some have closed schools and nurseries and many sporting and social events have been cancelled.

Disneyland closed its parks, including Disneyland Paris, until the end of the month and suspended new departures on its Disney cruises.

Additional reporting by agencies