Millions of Europeans were preparing to be confined to their homes to counter an explosion in coronavirus infections after Spain followed Italy by putting the whole country in lockdown and France ordered the closure of all non-essential public buildings.

The government in Spain, where the epidemic is spreading faster than anywhere else in the world, used emergency powers to implement the shutdown on Saturday evening with immediate effect. Underlying the urgency, the number of coronavirus deaths in Spain doubled to 288 between Saturday and Sunday while the total number of cases surged by more than a third to 7,753. Nearly half are in Madrid.

The measures imposed in Spain and France mean that about 174m people in Europe are now facing restrictions on their movements in their own country. Italy earlier this month became the first European country to order people to stay at home.

The streets of Spanish cities were deserted on Sunday. People are only permitted to leave their homes for specific purposes, such as buying food, travelling to work or tending to a vulnerable person. The curbs are to be enforced by the police and army, with violators likely to be fined.

"These are times of extraordinary difficulty," said Pedro Sánchez, Spain's prime minister, as he announced the lockdown. "When this is over, we will be able to return to the streets and the terraces, to our work routines. We will visit friends and loved ones and take our children to the park . . . But until that moment comes, we will not lose our way."

France also drastically tightened its social distancing measures, ordering the closure of all cafés, restaurants, non-essential shops and places of entertainment to try to slow the spread of the virus. Schools will open only for the children of health workers.

Sign up here

Edouard Philippe, French prime minister, urged everyone to stay at home except for food shopping and exercise, and told employers to organise teleworking where possible, although public transport will continue to operate and the borders remain open. According to the health ministry, 91 people in France have died from coronavirus.

However, only hours after the new restrictions were imposed, voters emerged from their homes to cast their ballots in nationwide municipal elections. President Emmanuel Macron decided to go ahead with the voting "to ensure the continuity of our democratic life".

Special measures were in place to disinfect equipment and keep voters apart from each other, and voters have been encouraged to bring their own pens to make their mark.

"I'm more worried about the older folk," said one 45-year-old social worker as he prepared to cast his ballot at a polling station near the Boulevard Saint-Germain in Paris.

The closures are likely to have a devastating impact on activity in what are the eurozone's second and fourth-biggest economies. France alone has 175,000 restaurants and 40,000 bars which are now shut, although restaurants are allowed to sell takeaways.

France will progressively cut back long-distance travel to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government announced on Sunday. Bruno Le Maire, finance minister, urged French people not to go on a panic-buying spree, insisting that 90 per cent to 95 per cent of products were available in supermarkets. "There are no shortages and there will be no shortages if everyone behaves responsibly," he said. "Continue to do your food shopping as before."

The French generally followed the letter of the government's orders on Sunday - voting, buying food and going for a walk are permitted - but a few crowded outdoor food markets and parks suggested some were reluctant to obey the spirit of the official recommendations. Staff at a Paris florist, which should have been closed under the measures, told the Financial Times they had opened to offload their stock.

The speed of the virus infection in Spain, where it was business as usual only a week ago, has been bewildering, including for the prime minister. As Mr Sánchez addressed the nation on Saturday his wife, Begoña Gómez, was being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Only six days earlier, Ms Gómez and several members of Mr Sánchez's government took part in a 120,000-strong march in Madrid marking International Women's Day. Senior figures at the march and a rival far-right Vox party event have since contracted the virus. Three weeks ago there were no active documented cases of coronavirus at all in Spain and fewer than 400 by March 6.

The epidemic has spread so rapidly it overwhelmed the health system in Madrid, the worst-affected part of the country. Despite a plan to triple the number of intensive care beds in the region and to convert rooms in now deserted hotels into hospital wards, Madrid doctors have told the Spanish media there is little if any capacity for treating additional cases.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso, president of the Madrid region, on Sunday issued an urgent appeal for ventilators and other supplies. "I beg you earnestly for equipment to save lives and protect our healthcare professionals," she said.

Under the "state of alert" declared on Saturday, Mr Sánchez's weak minority government has gained extraordinary sweeping powers to requisition property, take control of factories, shut down roads and manage people's lives.

Spain's highly decentralised system of administration has been temporarily replaced with direct rule from Madrid. A request from Catalonia's pro-independence government for the north-eastern region to be blocked off from the rest of Spain to slow the spread of the virus was brushed aside by Madrid.

tag