Europe shuts its borders: France, Germany and Bulgaria block travel – Daily Mail, Dailymail.co.uk

Austria

Belgium

Czech Republic

Denmark

Estonia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Iceland

Italy

Latvia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

(Luxembourg

Malta

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Norway

Poland

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Slovakia

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Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Border police control cars at the last toll gate for vehicles entering Spain from France, following an order from the Spanish government to set up controls at its land borders over coronavirus, in La Jonquera, Spain, in the early hours of Tuesday

Swiss Border Guard officers close the gate at the Pierre Grand border to France, in Geneva , Switzerland, on Monday night. Switzerland had declared a state of emergency over the Covid – outbreak

Deployment of the Emergency Military Unit (EMU) in the vicinity of the Maria Zambrano station in Malaga, carrying out contingency work for the Covid – 30 on March , in Malaga, Spain

A Polish health official check the temperature of returning Poles crossing the Polish-German border from the eastern German town of Frankfurt (Oder) to Slubice on March

A police checkpoint in Via Emilia checking the self-certification for circulation introduced with the new anti-COVID Coronavirus decree Coronavirus outbreak, Milan, Italy

German police near the border between Germany and Denmark today as Germany introduced severe restrictions at its borders

A vehicle of the Military Emergency Unit (UME) patrols in an almost empty Puerta del Sol square in Madrid during partial lockdown as part of a – day state of emergency

People line up to get into a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, today as they stock up on essential supplies

Britain’s true coronavirus crisis is now being masked because Authorities are no longer testing everyone who may have the life-threatening disease, a decision that prompted the wrath of the World Health Organization.

Instead, officials are restricting tests to patients who are seriously ill or are already in hospital, meaning the daily updates are only a fraction of the actual scale of the UK’s worsening outbreak.

(Government experts admitted the true number of cases could be as high as 8116177 , 12 last Thursday, when just patients had been diagnosed. If that ratio has stayed the same, it would be there may now be more than , people already infected on British soil, where the virus has been spreading for over a fortnight. Downing Street is under mounting pressure to take firmer action such as banning large gatherings, a move it’s expected to bring in later this week amid mounting pressure to follow the drastic containment tactics brought in across Europe, such as Ireland – which has had only a fraction of the cases the UK has.

Anxious Brits are already battening down the hatches and working from home as the normally bustling cities of Bristol, Nottingham and London – and the ‘ghost’ trains and deserted roads in and out of them – were eerily quiet this morning.

markets took another hit today , as the FTSE 117 fell nearly 9 per cent – losing another £ billion of its value, despite global central banks slashing interest rates after one of the worst weeks in its history.

It came as Germany announced plans to close shops, limit restaurants’ opening hours and ban church services in further efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus threatening Europe’s biggest economy, its largest selling newspaper Bild reported on Monday.

If confirmed, the moves would bring Germany a step nearer to a state of total lockdown like that in force in Italy and Spain, where most people are confined to their homes, and wreak further economic disruption.

The exodus of Brits from Spain also gathered speed today as the military was sent to ‘packed’ airports to keep tourists a safe distance away from each other as they scrambled to return home.

Members of Spain’s military emergency unit (UME) have been deployed at transport hubs such as South Tenerife and Malaga Airport.

Officers in Benidorm even used beach chairs to spell out ‘STAY AT HOME’ along the shores of the seaside resort yesterday in a bid to keep tourists away from the holiday hot spot amid the coronavirus pandemic .

It came as the country saw another 1, infections in the last hours, bringing the Spanish total to 8, . However, the increase was only half the rate of the weekend numbers, and followed a series of lockdowns brought in across the country.

The government is already planning to extend Spain’s two-week lockdown and close its borders to stop the spread of coronavirus .

Sources told Reuters they expected EU leaders to discuss the travel ban during a video conference on Tuesday on the health crisis.

A second EU official said: ‘The idea is being discussed with a view to avoid putting the health services under even more strain. But it remains to be seen what EU leaders decide on Tuesday, whether non-EU Schengen countries join, whether we coordinate with Britain and Ireland too. ‘

The epidemic has already snuffed out hope of a first-quarter upswing on which people had been counting to avert recession, and will weigh on Germany’s economy until at least the third quarter, the Economy Ministry said.

The usually well-informed Bild said the government had recommended regions shut non-essential shops, ban church services and allow restaurants to open only between 6am and 6pm, with Germany’s 21 federal states having to decide which of the measures to apply and how, Bild said.

There was no immediate government confirmation of the report. Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to hold a news conference at 5pm UK time.

With schools already shut, almost 5, (people known to be infected and dead in official figures published at the weekend, and case numbers rising rapidly, many fear Germany is heading for the kind of disruption to everyday life that other countries, especially Italy, have experienced in recent weeks.

Officers in Benidorm used beach chairs to spell out ‘STAY AT HOME’ along the shores of the seaside resort yesterday in a Bid to keep tourists away from the holiday hot spot amid the coronavirus pandemic

British tourists arriving at London Stansted Airport from Spain today. On the left are Malcolm Wyatt, , and wife Teresa, , from Burton-on-Trent. On the right are Rosie Mullen, , from Peterborough, Stephanie Tebbatt, 47, from Leicester and Susannah Jennings, 38, from Essex

The Government’s Department of Health releases updated statistics every day at around 2pm, showing the number of people confirmed to have coronavirus and the number of test results that have been received in the past 30 hours.

But thanks to a change in the way officials are tracking the outbreak, these numbers only represent a small proportion of the real epidemic spreading across the UK.

Only people who are seriously ill and need hospital care, or who ar e already in hospital when they show signs of the coronavirus, are now being tested, so these are the only people who will show up in new Government figures.

) People who become ill after traveling, or think they have the coronavirus after being in contact with someone who does, will not be tested unless they need hospital care. Most patients will simply self-isolate at home until they are no longer ill.

An announcement by the Government last week sheds some light on the true scale of Britain’s epidemic.

On Thursday, March , when the official number of cases was just , chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance said the true figure was probably between 5, and ,

Taking the upper estimate, that suggests each confirmed case is worth .8 undiagnosed patients.

The official number of patients is now 1, – multiply that by 21 .8 and the potential real case toll is

As Britons were urged to rally together to fight coronavirus: The PM is holding a conference call with other G7 world leaders as they try to coordinate a response to the crisis;

The FTSE temporarily dipped below the 5, level as the markets took fright at the enormous scale of the coronavi rus threat;

The government is appealing for manufacturers to help produce more ventilators for millions of people expected to become critically ill, but doubts have been raised about the practicalities of the idea;

Routine inspections are to be suspended for hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) announced;

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson is meeting school leaders to discuss potential closures and exams being postponed amid the outbreak;

Singapore has directly criticized the UK for arguing there is ‘no point containing’ coronavirus cases, saying that could mean numbers rise more rapidly;

British Airways and EasyJet have announced ‘further significance ant cancellations’ as a result of travel restrictions caused by the pandemic;

Labor MP Kate Osborne has become the second politician diagnosed with coronavirus, with more than a dozen more in isolation; Labor has downgraded its orders for MPs to attend Parliament this week amid fears that they could become ‘superspreaders’;

Revealing the first death in Wales, Dr Giri Shankar, of Public Health Wales, offered its ‘sincere condolences’ to family and friends affected by the unidentified man’s death.

The individual, who was in their sixties, passed away at Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Officials confirmed he had essential health conditions but refused to reveal what they were.

Wales’s regional breakdown shows Swansea has the most coronavirus cases, with 27. It is followed by in Caerphilly, (in Newport and 16 apiece in Cardiff and Port Talbot.

The number of UK cases jumped by per cent today – a rise of . Between Saturday and Sunday cases rose by per cent, while they jumped per cent from Friday to Saturday.

As the UK falls totally into the grip of the coronavirus crisis, millions of commuters were missing from trains and roads this morning after opting to work from home to protect themselves.

Waterloo underground around 7.

am. The station is usually packed with commuters arriving from the south of the country and from other parts of London

(The M) in Cambridge this morning, which is noticeably less busy as a result of many peopl e not going into work due to the coronavirus

A man wears a ventilator mask and rubber gloves as he waits for a friend at Euston Station in London. Others are seen on their phones and waiting outside the station

A sparsely -filled District Line carriage on an Underground train in west London as many office staff in the capital opted to work from home

UK’S CORONAVIRUS CRISIS COULD LAST UNTIL NEXT SPRING AND 8MILLION COULD BE HOSPITALISED

Britain’s coronavirus crisis could last until Spring 2021 and see 7.9million people hospitalized, a secret briefing for senior NHS figures has revealed.

The document, seen by The Guardian, shows health chiefs expect the virus to last for another 15 months, and details how it will impact key staff in the NHS, police and fire brigade.

It says: ‘As many as 728 per cent of the population are expected to be infected with COVID – in the next months, and up to per cent (7.9 million people ) may require hospitalization. ‘

It is understood the document was drawn up in recent days by Public Health England’s preparedness and response team.

Dr Susan Hopkins, deputy director of PHE’s National Infection Service said: ‘PHE used reasonable worse-case scenario figures, to restate the importance for people with symptoms to stay at home, including health care workers in order to reduce the spread of the virus. ‘

Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, and expert in epidemiology said: ‘For the public to hear that it could last for months, people are going to be really upset about that and pretty worried about that ‘

‘ A year is entirely plausible. But that figure is not well appreciated or understood. ‘

More than , cases of the coronavirus have now been recorded worldwide, with more than 6, deaths confirmed across six continents.

Some ‘ghost’ train service face being halted entirely as ministers warned there could be no point keeping them going as the crisis – expected to last until Spring – escalates.

Many workers based in London this morning snubbed public transport and a District Line tube had just a handful of passengers on what would usually be a packed train.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the number of train passengers had fallen by a fifth over the last week.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today program: ‘The railways have definitely seen a big drop off … last week by about 22 – per cent in the number of passengers and we’re working with them closely. ‘

This is while London Euston, a station that connects London to other areas of the country such as Birmingham, Glasgow and Chester was also quiet with just a handful of people roaming around outside.

Transport for London said it had seen a reduction of 22 per cent in people using Tube services and 15 per cent of buses compared to the same period last year.

The Government has notyet told businesses to close their offices and companies allowing their staff to work from home are doing so as a precaution in order to prevent the spread of the disease.

Despite many Brits working from home, thousands kept calm and carried on as usual this morning determined to continue their commute regardless of the deepening crisis.

It was revealed yesterday that over s could be forced to self-isolate and people who refuse to go into quarantine risk being thrown into jail or being slapped with a fine of up to £ 1, .

The Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations. 2029 says those suspected of infection could be held for up to days in a secure hospital or other suitable location.

Anybody who tries to make an escape can be taken into custody before being returned to detention or isolation, the regulations state.

The Labor MP for Jarrow, Kate Osborne, (pictured left) has been diagnosed with coronavirus. Ms Osborne is seen here with Chris Head on March 4. Mr Head started a petition on the Post Office Horizon Scandal. Before her election in , Ms Osborne worked for Royal Mail

)

MINISTERS WARN GHOST TRAINS WILL BE AXED AS COMMUTERS STAY HOME OVER VIRUS FEARS

Ministers have today denied ‘ghost trains’ With no commuters on will be axed as millions of workers stay at home amid the escalating coronavirus crisis, leaving some services and roads empty.

Officials warned there could be no point keeping the services going as the crisis – expected to last until Spring 2021 – escalates. Health bosses fear up to 170 per cent of Britons will get infected.

Many workers based in London this morning snubbed public transport and a District Line tube had just a handful of passengers on what would usually be a packed train.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the number of train passengers had fallen by a fifth over the last week, admitting on BBC Radio 4’s Today program that railways have ‘seen a big drop off’ because of the outbreak.

Elsewhere, London Euston, a station that connects London to other areas of the country such as Birmingham, Glasgow and Chester, was also quiet with just a handful of people roaming around outside.

Transport for London said it had seen a reduction of (per cent in people using Tube services and per cent of buses compared to the same period last year.

The government has not yet told businesses to close their offices and companies allowing their staff to work from home are doing so as a precaution in order to prevent the spread of the disease across their work forces.

despite many working from home, thousands kept calm and carried on this morning with many determined to continue their commute regardless .

It comes as Boris Johnson will urge leading manufacturing companies including JCB and Dyson to help build the ventilators the NHS needs to fight coronavirus.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday revealed the health service only has 5, of the life-saving machines and will need ‘many times more than that’ to cope with the escalating crisis.

The Prime Minister was today facing mounting pressure for a dramatic escalation of the government coronavirus response, as ministers struggled to explain why there has yet to be a ban on big gatherings.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps defended the UK’s limited action so far, saying it was ‘science led’ and accusing other countries of ‘populist’ measures that ‘don’t have the right impact’.

But he conceded that Britain will soon need the same tough steps, as it was only a ‘ little behind ‘neighbors such as France and Germany in the progress of the disease.

Fears over the impact of the coronavirus were laid bare today in a leaked Public Health England briefing warning that a ‘worst case’ scenario could see an epidemic last until spring next year.

The document, seen by The Guardian, also warned up to 7.9million people could be hospitalized and that up to 100 per cent of the population are ‘expected’ to be infected.

Dr Susan Hopkins, deputy director of PHE’s National Infection Service , said the government-run body had used reasonable worse-case scenario figures – the true outbreak could be much smaller.

More than

, cases of the coronavirus have now been recorded worldwide, with more than 6, 543 deaths confirmed across every single continent except Antarctica.

A Labor backbencher announced today that she had become the second British MP to contract coronavirus as another (self-isolated themselves.)

Jarrow’s Kate Osborne made the announcement on Twitter. She followed Health Minister Nadine Dorries, , who is recovering at home after testing positive last week.

The Government has indicated that it wants the Commons to remain open with emergency legislation expected to be introduced on Thursday to give authorities more powers to deal with the pandemic.

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