Coronavirus cases in Europe: everything you need to know about Covid-19 across the region

Governments around the globe continue to grapple with how to stop the spread of the coronavirus known as Covid-19. The effects have battered economies, and across Europe , home to more than 746 million people, countries have closed borders and schools, imposed travel restrictions and told non-essential employees to work from home. Since Covid-19 was detected in the Chinese province of Hubei in December, it has spread to more than 100 countries. By the end of April, there were 3.1 million cases, with about 220,000 deaths. Some of the worst-hit countries in Europe, including France, where the football season is over , Italy, where politicians protested against the lockdown, and Spain, are beginning to ease lockdown measures. Germany, which saw fewer deaths, is also slowly opening up while British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK was past its peak. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the pandemic a historic test for the EU. EU finance ministers agreed on € 500 billion worth of support for their coronavirus-battered economies How many cases are in Europe and the UK? How is each country managing the crisis? Infected : 210,717 Deaths : 28,884 Infected : 168,925 Deaths : 24,864 Infected : 217,466 Deaths : 25,264 Infected : 187,842 Deaths : 28,520 Germany Infected : 165,664 Deaths : 6,866 No easy question to answer. A mind boggling array of travel restrictions has been implemented in recent days and weeks by countries around the globe in an attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19. The measures are constantly changing and any nation may further limit travel without notice. The EU suspended all non-essential travel to the bloc for non-EU citizens for 30 days from March 17. Citizens of EU countries are allowed to return home, but some jurisdictions require them to self-isolate for 14 days. The UK was initially warning against all non-essential travel but as of March 23 advised all Britons abroad who are usually based in the UK to return home immediately, and, for the moment, is exempt from the ban. Brussels has told individual nations to enforce the closures or adjust movement rules to suit themselves. Across the region, train, cross-border bus and ferry companies are running on a reduced service; while some ports are open, passengers are generally not allowed to disembark for travel or tourism reasons. Within the bloc, some countries have introduced even tighter measures. Austria, for example, has banned all travellers, irrespective of citizenship, from Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Croatia says that anyone coming in from Italy must go into a government quarantine facility at their own expense for 14 days, while travellers from certain other countries, including Spain, must self-isolate. International transport links from France are increasingly restricted and border checks are being enforced with Italy, Spain and Germany. Germany has also introduced border controls with Austria, Denmark, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland, and expanded air restrictions to flights from those countries as well as Italy and Spain. There are strict travel restrictions on flights to and from Italy, with only one airport in each region open and temperature checks for those arriving. Alitalia passengers are required to wear their own face masks when the 1-metre rule cannot be applied. The US is refusing entry to non-citizens from all European countries, including the UK and Ireland. In Bolivia, all flights to and from Europe have ceased, while Morocco has suspended flights from Italy, Germany, France and Spain. Travellers to Japan from the 26 members of the Schengen zone, Britain and Ireland, must go into self-quarantine in facilities approved by the authorities there. Any foreign traveller who has been in France, Germany, Italy or Spain within 14 days may not enter Singapore, although the country’s residents and passport holders may do so as long as they quarantine at home for two weeks. The Thai authorities are insisting that anyone flying in from a list of countries, including Italy and Iran, has proof of travel insurance, with at least $100,000 in coverage, and must produce a health certificate confirming a negative test result for Covid-19. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which may cause illness in animals or humans. Covid-19 is only the most recently discovered strain. In humans, seven coronaviruses are known to cause respiratory infections, including the common cold and more severe diseases such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers) – first recorded in Saudi Arabia in 2012 – and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) which swept through southern China and Hong Kong in 2002 and 2003. Covid-19 has affected far more people. But it is far less deadly, with a mortality rate which is believed to be around 3.5 per cent , according to an estimate by the World Health Organisation, compared with about 10 per cent in Sars and 34 per cent in Mers. The most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may have aches and pains, nasal congestion, sore throat or diarrhoea and, rarely, a runny nose. Read more: What to do if you think you have coronavirus? The elderly, and those with underlying medical problems such as high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, are more likely to develop serious illness. According to a doctor who fought the outbreak in Wuhan, high blood pressure is a major risk factor. Out of a group of 170 patients who died in January in Wuhan – in the first wave of casualties caused by the pathogen – about half had hypertension. A study of 44,000 patients by the Chinese Centres of Disease Control found only 0.2 per cent of children and teenagers died, compared with almost 15 per cent of people above the age of 80. The highest death toll outside of Europe is in the US, where there has been more than 25,000 deaths. China has recorded more than 3,300 deaths, followed by and Iran, where about 4,600 have succumbed to the virus. The outlook in the Gulf in terms of suffering caused by the virus is much lower than that witnessed elsewhere in the world. Experts have put that down to countermeasures taken early on in the crisis, unlike a country like Iran, which was accused of underplaying the crisis and not taking the appropriate restrictive measures to prevent the virus spreading far and overwhelming the country’s health system.

Coronavirus cases in Europe: everything you need to know about Covid-19 across the region

Some of the worst-hit countries in Europe are easing lockdown rules