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| - A roundup of the main measures being taken in Europe to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. Citizens have been obliged to stay at home in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain, and since Monday in Greece, except for medical attention, exercise or essential shopping. At the weekend Italy toughened its measures, closing all green spaces and halting all non-essential production. Spain's government will ask parliament to extend a state of emergency for another 15 days until April 11. In France, curfews have been imposed in several cities. Austria has extended the strict measures already in place until April 13. Bavaria and Saarland have become the first German regional states to order containment. Turkey has imposed total confinement on people over 65 or suffering from chronic diseases. Britain has urged the people most at risk to stay at home for at least three months. Portugal has declared a state of emergency and asked citizens to stay home. Moscow's mayor has ordered retired people and the ill to remain in confinement or go to their holiday homes. The European Union imposed on March 17 an entry ban on travellers from outside the bloc for an initial period of 30 days. It will not affect Europeans returning home, social workers, cross-border workers, or citizens of former EU member Britain. Hungary and Spain have closed their land borders. Turkey has closed its borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Germany has stepped up border controls with several countries, including France, which has reciprocated, only allowing through goods transport and border workers. Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Lithuania, Romania and Slovakia have closed their borders to foreigners, with Slovakia excepting Poles. Russia has closed its land borders with Norway and Poland. Austria has closed its border with Italy and Switzerland. Schools have been closed in Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine. In Belgium, Cyprus, France and Italy all gatherings are banned. In France that will apply to all religious gatherings scheduled for April, including the Christian and Jewish Easter and beginning of Ramadan. Different countries have set widely different caps on the number of people who can get together. Germany has banned public gatherings of more than two people for an initial period of two weeks. In Turkey, collective prayers are suspended and places of worship closed. Austria, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Ukraine have closed all places admitting the public. Non-essential shops are closed in Andorra, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, which has also closed hotels and tourist accommodation. Restaurants, bars, nightclubs and cinemas are closed all over Europe. Russia has closed fitness clubs and swimming pools. British airlines have grounded most of their fleet. France has massively reduced long-distance transport and cut rail travel by half. Public transport has been reduced in Kiev, London, Luxembourg and Paris. Austria's air travel is close to zero and it has reduced its rail travel drastically. In Poland international air and rail traffic has been suspended. Russia and Turkey have drastically cut international air links. bur-paj/jmy/pvh
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