Led by Italy Lockdown, Europe Struggles to Limit Coronavirus Spread

(Bloomberg) -- Spain banned direct flights from Italy, and Austria said it’ll block travelers from that country unless they can prove they’re healthy as Europe struggled to find ways to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

A day after Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe, became the first democratic country since World War II to announce a nationwide lockdown, countries across the region put in place their own piecemeal measures to slow the march of the disease. Schoolchildren in Greece and university students in Portugal were asked to stay home. Air France canceled thousands of flights, Ireland scrapped St. Patrick’s Day celebrations and Madonna pulled out of concerts in Paris slated for Tuesday and Wednesday.

With people and businesses striving to work with the new restrictions, European leaders are holding an emergency call Tuesday evening to discuss a response. On the cusp of turning into a pandemic, the virus has claimed more than 520 lives on the continent. Close to 500 of those deaths have been in Italy. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte called this the country’s “darkest hour,” ordering Italians to “stay at home” as he explained that “we are forced to impose sacrifices.”

“We’re at the very beginning of this epidemic,” French President Emmanuel Macron said after a visit to the Necker children’s hospital in Paris, calling for pragmatism and flexibility as authorities respond to the outbreak. “We’re prepared.”

Globally, the number of those infected has surpassed 113,000, with deaths exceeding 3,900. While China, where the virus originated, is seeing the pace of new infections slow, there are no indications its spread is in check in Europe. Cases have now been found in all 27 EU member nations.

“This cannot be business as usual,” said EU Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides, speaking to European lawmakers in Brussels. “We are facing an exceptional situation.”

Not every leader is on the same page on how best to respond. In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it doesn’t make sense to restrict gatherings or travel yet. “What’s happening in other countries doesn’t necessarily mirror what’s happening here,” Johnson said late Monday.

Still, such measures are swiftly becoming de rigueur elsewhere in Europe. In the EU’s Tuesday conference call, France said it will call for a common budgetary response to the virus.

EU leaders will probably discuss limits on travel to and from the most affected areas, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Copenhagen. “I will not propose to close the border, but we will have a discussion this afternoon about how we handle internal travel patterns in the EU,” she said.

Slovenia tightened controls on its border with Italy and closed casinos near the frontier. Meanwhile in Spain, where confirmed cases more than doubled between Sunday and Monday, the government unveiled a handful of new measures.

It’s suspending for a month trips organized for the elderly by the welfare agency. All top soccer and basketball matches will be played within closed doors for at least two weeks. It also announced restrictions on all events in Madrid that draw large crowds. Schools and universities in the Madrid area will be closed for two weeks starting March 11.

Germany’s largest states on Tuesday moved to cancel public events, while Chancellor Angela Merkel said the nation could hold soccer games before empty stadiums. German Health Minister Jens Spahn has pushed for gatherings of more than 1,000 people to be canceled, but left the final call to local health authorities.

France barred gatherings of 50 or more people in clusters where infections have soared. Austria is banning outdoor events with more than 500 participants, including the Vienna marathon that had been expected to draw more than 40,000 people to the city on April 19, and indoor activities with more than 100 people. Ireland halted St. Patrick’s Day parades, which typically attract half a million spectators, with thousands traveling from overseas.

Still, the restrictions in Italy are by far the most stringent. After trying to lock down the northern region of Lombardy, Conte moved to widen curbs by decree to the entire nation of more than 60 million people. Schools and universities will be closed nationwide, all public events will be canceled, and Italians won’t be allowed to travel without a business or health-related justification until April 3.

The Lombardy region around Milan is weighing a temporary halt to public transportation and a ban on non-essential business activities, regional official Giulio Gallera said by phone.

The business community appeared to rally around the prime minister on Tuesday. Marcella Panucci, director general of employers lobby Confindustria, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV that the full lockdown was justified.

Panic Button

Companies elsewhere are taking their own measures. Deutsche Bank AG on Monday said it’s splitting investment bank teams in London and Frankfurt after an employee in its Frankfurt headquarters tested positive for the virus. The board of Banco Santander SA asked shareholders to remote into its April 2 annual meeting and make use of proxy-granting. The bank also asked employees in Madrid to work from home for 15 days.

In Italy, the impact of the lockdown won’t become clear for at least a month, Giovanni Rezza, head of the infectious diseases department at the Superior Health Institute told Corriere della Sera.

“What matters more than government measures is how individuals behave,” he said. “People haven’t realized how much they’re at risk.”

With the economy already on the brink of recession, Conte will ask parliament Wednesday for authorization to deviate from planned deficit targets to fund an economic stimulus package.

The government may increase the value of the package, including more health and spending and help for businesses and families, to about 10 billion euros ($11.4 billion) from 7.5 billion euros. It is also negotiating with banks to provide breaks from debt payments, including mortgages, and other additional fiscal measures, Deputy Finance Minister Laura Castelli said in a radio interview.

--With assistance from Tommaso Ebhardt, Nikos Chrysoloras, Viktoria Dendrinou, Joost Akkermans, Joao Lima, Marthe Fourcade, Boris Groendahl, Steven Arons, Zoe Schneeweiss, Rudy Ruitenberg, Sonia Sirletti, Morten Buttler, Thomas Gualtieri, Macarena Munoz, Jan Bratanic, John Follain and Paul Tugwell.

To contact the reporters on this story: Naomi Kresge in Berlin at nkresge@bloomberg.net;Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Vidya Root, Jerrold Colten

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.