‘Europe now the epicentre of coronavirus’, WHO declares

Denmark, Poland close borders as WHO reveals European outbreak has now surpassed the height of China’s coronavirus epidemic.

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom. Picture: AFP

Denmark and Poland have taken extraordinary steps in the coronavirus war, closing their borders for the coming weeks amid public worry about the uncontrolled situation in Italy.

Denmark, which has more than 800 known cases of the virus, will turn away everyone except foreign nationals from noon on Saturday and has deployed the military at airports, train stations and border crossings to enforce the government directive.

Poland, which had 68 cases on Friday, has taken similar steps at its borders but has also ruled that anyone eligible to re-enter Poland will have to submit to two weeks’ quarantine, and has banned groups of more than 50 people gathering.

The dramatic moves come as the World Health Organisation declared Europe the epicentre of coronavirus, three-and-a-half months since it first appeared in Wuhan in China.

WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom said there were now more daily cases and deaths from coronavirus in Europe than there were at the height of China’s epidemic. In Italy, the death toll has risen to 1266 on Friday with a tally of 17,660 cases.

Other countries to shut their borders are the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Ukraine. Albania and Cyprus have shut their countries to anyone who is not European.

While Austria has closed its border with Italy, Germany has kept its borders open — for now.

Modelling shows France, Germany and other European countries are between 9 to 14 days behind the Italian numbers of people contracting the virus, and in that country the numbers of the dead and ill continue to soar. As of Friday there were 4209 cases in Spain, 3,156 in Germany, 2882 in France, 809 in Sweden and 804 in The Netherlands.

French president Emmanuel Macron, who has ordered shut all schools and universities, said France was “only at the start of the epidemic that is accelerating and worsening everywhere in Europe”.

Schools and universities were also shut in Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Algeria and Slovakia as well as some German states and Berlin.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has been accused of playing “roulette” with the health of the nation by not imposing school closures or shutting major sporting events. The Netherlands has also kept schools open, but closed other institutions like museums.

Many people, however, have heeded the directive to work from home and public transport in London was eerily quiet through the day.