Europe Shuts Its Borders in Desperate Effort to Stop Virus
A police officer checks a driver's paper work on Austria’s border with Germany in Ebbs, Austria, on March 17.
Photographer: Michaela Handrek-Rehle/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
European Union leaders agreed to restrict most travel into the continent in an unprecedented move aimed at slowing down the spread of a deadly coronavirus and mitigating its effects on the bloc.
The restrictions will apply to all non-EU citizens and last for an initial 30 days, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters after a video conference with her fellow leaders. Merkel said that the group expressed a “great readiness” to do whatever is necessary to contain the outbreak and was braced for a “very serious” economic impact.