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| - A snapshot of the main measures being taken in Europe to fight the spread of the novel coronavirus. Citizens have been obliged to stay home in Austria, Belgium, Britain, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania and Spain, as well as in Moscow and several other Russian regions. Georgia will impose confinement from Tuesday. Romania has declared a state of emergency, as has Portugal which has also asked citizens to stay at home and Hungary, where nationalist premier Viktor Orban has received sweeping new powers. France has declared a public health emergency. A curfew is in place in Serbia, a measure also just announced by Georgia. Finland has imposed isolation on its capital and its province. In Turkey 12 areas are quarantined. The German regional states of Bavaria and Saarland are contained. Other Germans have been urged, but not obliged, to stay home. The European Union imposed on March 17 an entry ban on travellers from outside the bloc for an initial period of 30 days, with limited exceptions. Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, and the Czech Republic, have completely closed their land borders. Others have done so partially, such as Austria with Italy and Switzerland or Turkey with Greece and Bulgaria. Germany has stepped up border controls with several countries. Schools are closed in more than two dozen countries across the continent. In Belgium, Cyprus, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands all gatherings are banned. Other countries have set widely different caps on the number of people who can get together with Britain, Germany and Poland banning public gatherings of more than two people and Sweden of more than 50. Non-essential shops are closed in Andorra, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Cafes, bars, restaurants, cinemas and other places admitting the public, like swimming pools, are closed in numerous countries. Austria wants to oblige shoppers in supermarkets to wear face masks from Wednesday. The Czech Republic and Slovenia have imposed the wearing of masks in public places. bur-ot-ang-jmy/pma
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