Spanish police guard the border with France near the village of Dantxarinea
Deaths from
coronavirus in Spain surged to 491 on Tuesday from 309 the day before, health
officials have said.
The number of
confirmed cases also soared by 2,000 to 11,178, as Spain closed its borders and
maintained a partial lock down on 47 million people.
Spain is the
worst-affected part of Europe after Italy, which has had 26,000 cases and 2,500
deaths.
The EU is set
to ban all non-essential travel from outside the bloc, as France starts its own
strict lock down.
Death tolls
have increased elsewhere, with Iran reporting 135 more, taking its official
total close to 1,000.
The EU travel
ban will be in place for at least 30 days. It will affect all foreign visitors
except long-term residents, family members of EU nationals and diplomats,
cross-border and healthcare workers, and people transporting goods.
EU leaders will discuss the measures via
video conference later on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the Euro 2020 football
competition has been postponed by a year.
§ A visual guide
to the pandemic
§ Britons urged to
avoid non-essential travel abroad
The latest World
Heath Organization (WHO) figures list nearly 185,000
infections globally and 7,500 deaths.
What are the
latest updates in Europe?
In France,
citizens who leave home must now carry a document detailing the reasons why,
with fines for transgressors to be set at €135 ($150; £123).
It comes after President Macron put the country on a
war-footing, ordering the population to stay at home and only go out for
essential trips.
France has so far registered more than 6,000 infections and 148
deaths.
Mr Macron said the previous measures, including the closing of
schools, cafes and non-essential shops, had proven insufficient.
His 20-minute televised address on Monday was watched by a
record 35.3 million people, Le Monde reported.
In Britain,
people have been told to avoid social contact, work from home if they can and
avoid all non-essential foreign travel.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has unveiled a £330bn-financial
package to ease the burden caused by the virus, after Prime Minister Boris
Johnson on Monday urged people to avoid pubs, clubs and cafes.
Meanwhile, the government's chief scientific adviser said it
would be a "good outcome" if 20,000 or fewer people died of the virus
in the UK.
The latest set of Brexit talks has also been delayed.
The number of
confirmed cases in Spain has
soared by 2,000 to 11,178. Authorities there are maintaining a partial lockdown
on 47 million people.
Death tolls have increased elsewhere too, with Iran reporting
135 more, taking its official total close to 1,000.
Spain began at midnight stopping cars crossing its borders from
France and Portugal. Only Spanish nationals, residents and cross-border workers
were being allowed to the country, one of the worst-affected in Europe.
Madrid remains the area with the highest number of cases - 4,871
- with Catalonia next on 1,394.
Some 1,028 people are listed as having recovered from the
Covid-19 disease.
El Pais reports that the the government of the Balearic Islands
has asked the 25,000 tourists who are still on the islands to leave and return
home.
Italy, which has registered the most cases outside China at more than
26,000, announced another surge in deaths on Tuesday, from 2,150 to 2,503. The
country remains in lockdown.
The government meanwhile is set to renationalise flag carrier
airline Alitalia with a rescue package worth $670m (£550m).
Germany, which has had more than 6,000 cases and 13 deaths, banned
religious services and told people to cancel any domestic or foreign holiday
travel.
Venues including clubs, bars, leisure facilities, zoos and
playgrounds will be closed. Schools are already shut.
The country's disease control centre is training students to
assist health authorities with contact tracing of infected patients, Der
Spiegel reports.
In other developments:
§
Belgium's
death toll doubled from five to 10 on on Tuesday
§
Sweden is to
close all high schools and universities from Wednesday
§
Orthodox
priests in Georgia have started blessing the streets of the capital Tbilisi
with holy water
What is the latest elsewhere?
Iran remains the world's third-worst-affected nation, after
China and Italy.
More than 16,000 people are confirmed as infected and 988 have
died, although some analysts believe the figures are far higher than officially
reported.
A spokesman for the judiciary said on Tuesday that 85,000
prisoners, including political prisoners, had been temporarily released to try
to combat the spread.
Gholamhossein Esmaili did not
say when or how those freed would be returned to prison, but stressed that only
prisoners serving five years or less had been released.
Most shops and restaurants remain open but the health ministry
has urged people to stay at home.
In the US, the
White House is working on a economic stimulus package reported to be worth some
$850bn, with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin saying the administration was
"looking at sending cheques to Americans immediately".
The total number of cases has risen to above 4,200, with 75
deaths, said the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most cases are
in the states of New York (669), Washington (708) and California (369).