Europe imposes new travel bans after Italy's national lockdown

Berlin

European countries attempted to block a severe coronavirus outbreak in Italy from spreading any further on Tuesday with travel bans and warnings, as they introduced ever stricter measures to contain their own domestic epidemics.

Speaking during a video conference of European Union leaders, European Council President Charles Michel urged the continent to coordinate its response to the crisis.

"The virus is spreading in all member states," said Michel. "I think therefore we should try to coordinate as much as possible and see where we can do more together."

His remarks were echoed by French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening, who tweeted that Europe should prevent instability and do everything necessary to protect people's health and the economy, Deutsche press agency (dpa) reported.