A picture taken on March 20, 2020 in Paris, shows women wearing a protective face mask walking along the empty banks of the Seine river, on the fourth day of a strict lockdown in France. (BERTRAND GUAY / AFP)

ADDIS ABABA / NAIROBI / OTTAWA / WASHINGTON / BERLIN / PORT-AU-PRINCE / BUENOS AIRES / RIO DE JANEIRO / MILAN / MADRID / LISBON / SANTIAGO / DUBLIN / MOSCOW / LONDON / NICE / PRAIA / JOHANNESBURG / VIENNA / ZURICH / BRUSSELS / KIEV - Paris has closed the popular promenades along the Seine river, the lawns of Les Invalides and the Champ de Mars park around the Eiffel Tower because of coronavirus infection worries, the prefecture said on Friday.

The closure took effect at 1500 CET (1300 GMT) Friday and will last through the weekend, with all gatherings or passage through these areas forbidden, the prefecture said. It said that too many people were frequenting these areas despite home confinement rules introduced at the start of this week.

France’s Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Friday that a warship would be used to evacuate critical coronavirus patients from Corsica island to mainland hospitals.

Parly also said on Twitter that use of warship was a decision made by President Emmanuel Macron.

We must react a great deal and reorganize ourselves at every moment. We need to anticipate.

Emmanuel Macron, French president

"We must react a great deal and reorganize ourselves at every moment. We need to anticipate," Macron said at the start of a crisis meeting at the Interior Ministry.

In Nice, Mayor Christian Estrosi said he will be closing the city's famous Promenade des Anglais as part of measures to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

ALSO READ: France closes cafés as Europe tightens vise on public life

French health authorities reported 108 new deaths Thursday, taking the total to 372 or an increase of almost 41 percent, the toll rising sharply yet again as the country was in its third day of a lockdown aimed at containing the outbreak.

Director of the health agency Jerome Salomon said the number of cases had risen to 10,995, up from 9,134 on Tuesday, which is a rise of 20 percent in 24 hours.

Also on Thursday, the office of Prince Albert of Monaco said on Thursday that he has tested positive for coronavirus but his health "is not a cause for return".

Spain

Spain has reported over 1,000 deaths of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the Spanish Ministry for Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Services confirmed on Friday. 

According to the ministry, 1,002 people have now lost their lives from COVID-19, in comparison with the 767 deaths a day ago.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is approaching the 20,000 mark, with 19,980 cases confirmed by midday Friday -- an increase of 2,833 cases from Thursday.

The number of people who have now recovered from COVID-19 has climbed to 1,588, up from Thursday's figure of 1,107.

Over 10,000 people are now in hospital receiving treatment for the coronavirus and the government has called in an extra 30,000 health workers, including retired medical staff and students, to help look after them.   

Spain is working hard to prepare for the peak of infections, with several hotels in Madrid being prepared to take non-critical patients in order to free up space in the capital's main hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Military's emergency response unit has been disinfecting hospitals, airports and transport hubs around the country, while police are patrolling the streets through the country to ensure the virtual lockdown imposed by the State of Alarm is respected

This photo shows an empty train carriage on a South Western Railway train from Surbiton to Waterloo in London, just before 3 pm local time, on March 19, 2020. (MATT DUNHAM / AP)

Britain

Britain's rail network will operate half its normal service during the coronavirus crisis, the government and rail industry body said on Friday, and Heathrow Airport's operations will shrink as more of the country goes into a partial shutdown.

From Monday, trains will only run on core services, equivalent to about half the passenger trains on a normal weekday.

Heathrow Airport, the country's biggest, also said on Friday that it would partially shut down some operations after coronavirus brought most air travel to a standstill.

Many of us will need to find new ways of staying in touch with each other and making sure that loved ones are safe. I am certain we are up to that challenge. You can be assured that my family and I stand ready to play our part.

Queen Elizabeth II

The rail reductions will be gradual, the Department for Transport said, with the remaining services enabling key workers to get to their jobs and to move freight, including vital goods, around the country.

ALSO READ: EU's Brexit top negotiator Barnier has coronavirus

Meanwhile, Britain has asked 65,000 former nurses and doctors to return to work and will deploy final-year medical students to fight the coronavirus health crisis, the health ministry said.

Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday issued a message to the nation as she relocated from central London to Windsor with her husband Prince Philip. 

"At times such as these, I am reminded that our nation's history has been forged by people and communities coming together to work as one," the queen said.

"Many of us will need to find new ways of staying in touch with each other and making sure that loved ones are safe. I am certain we are up to that challenge. You can be assured that my family and I stand ready to play our part."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Britain could turn the tide of the outbreak within the next 12 weeks.

Britain has so far reported 144 deaths from coronavirus and 3,269 confirmed cases.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves Buckingham Palace for Windsor Castle amid the coronavirus pandemic, in London, March 19, 2020. (AARON CHOWN / PA VIA AP)

Latin America nations close borders

Several countries in Latin Amercia on Thursday closed their borders on to visitors to weather the coronavirus crisis.

Panama and Colombia imposed the toughest regional travel bans yet - a month of no international travel - while Brazil restricted entry of foreign visitors at land borders with Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana. 

Later in the day, Brazil announced it will bar citizens from certain countries affected by the virus outbreak from entering the country, but exempted the United States. Those banned include citizens of the European Union (EU), Japan, Australia, Malaysia and South Korea.

Brazil announced it will bar citizens from certain countries affected by the outbreak from entering the country, including citizens of the EU, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and South Korea, but exempted the United States

The bans by Panama and Colombia, effective next Monday, came after Peru, Argentina and Chile severely curtailed flights, leaving the region in unprecedented isolation.

Colombia will block entry to everyone traveling from abroad from midnight on Monday in an effort to control the spread of coronavirus, President Ivan Duque said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Panama, with 137 confirmed cases, will for 30 days suspend all international passenger flights from 11:59 pm on Sunday to contain the spread of coronavirus, President Laurentino Cortizo said on Thursday.

In his weekly Facebook broadcast on Thursday evening, President Jair Bolsonaro said that the coronavirus outbreak in Brazil, with seven deaths and 621 confirmed cases, should peak in three to four months, and the country will return to normal in six to seven months.

ALSO READ: EU tells Ecuador airports must be accessed after runway blocked

AU body: Africa virus cases to rise as some undetected

Africa will likely see higher numbers of coronavirus cases in coming weeks because of the likelihood some are slipping through the net, the head of a regional disease control body said on Thursday.

The virus has multiplied in Africa more slowly than Asia or Europe, but 34 nations on the continent have now reported a total of more than 600 cases. 

John Nkengasong, head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is a branch of the African Union bloc, said the number of confirmed cases in Africa was expected to rise in coming days and travel bans would delay but ultimately fail to contain the virus.

It was very likely, he said, that "people are coming in and they are slipping through and we are not picking them."

"We actually don't believe that there are large numbers of African people who are undetected and infected," Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Africa head, said on a teleconference with the media.

Moeti said 40 African countries can now test for the virus, up from just South Africa and Senegal at the start of February.

Italy

Italy's death toll from the coronavirus overtook that of China on Thursday as the government prepared to prolong emergency lockdown measures.

A total 427 deaths were registered in Italy over the past 24 hours, bringing the total nationwide tally to 3,405 since the outbreak surfaced on Feb 21. China has recorded 3,245 deaths since early January.

However, Italy has far fewer confirmed cases - 41,035 as of Thursday against 80,907 in China.

The government announced late Thursday it was putting together a 300-strong team of medical volunteers from the rest of the country to reinforce to the worst-affected areas. 

In Sicily, the regional governor said the army would now help police make spot checks to ensure only people with legitimate reasons were out.

Police across Italy have stopped more than 1.2 million people over the past week and booked some 51,000 for violating the rules, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

Education Minister Lucia Azzolina told SkyTG24 television that schools would reopen only when there was "certainty of absolute safety", adding that the end of the school year would depend on how well online lessons went in coming weeks.

A passenger wearing a face mask waits to check in at El Dorado International airport in Bogota, Colombia, on March 19, 2020. (RAUL ARBOLEDA / AFP)

Argentina

Argentina will begin a mandatory quarantine, President Alberto Fernandez announced on Thursday, the South American nation's latest measure to curb the spread of coronavirus.

The quarantine, which restricts people to their homes, will be in effect from midnight on Friday morning until March 31, Fernandez said in a televised address.

People will be able to leave their homes to shop for basic goods, like food and medicine. The quarantine will be enforced by security officials, Fernandez said.

Argentina confirmed 31 new cases of coronavirus, bringing the total cases to 128, and three deaths, according to government data.

The country had already closed its borders for a total of 15 days to non-residents and suspended flights from highly affected countries for 30 days.

Austria

Austria will extend its coronavirus restrictions until April 13, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Friday.

The Alpine republic, which has reported more than 2,200 coronavirus cases and six deaths from the global pandemic, put severe restrictions on movement on Monday in response to the developments in Italy and a sharp increase in coronavirus cases in some of its regions.

"Hold tight," Kurz addressed Austrians at a news conference. "We must not slow down. We must stick with the measures we have taken."

The Health Ministry said Thursday that Austria will extend controls from its borders with Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Liechtenstein to Hungary and Slovenia from Friday.

Borders remain open only with the Czech Republic and Slovakia under the EU's Schengen scheme.

Cameroon

Cameroon's Minister of Public Health Manaouda Malachie said Thursday that the country's first two cases of COVID-19 have been cured and discharged from hospital.

The Central African nation has reported 13 cases as of Wednesday, according to health authorities.

Cape Verde

Cape Verde confirmed its first coronavirus case on Friday, the government said in a statement.

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that he expected the closure of the United States-Canada border to come into effect on Friday night, or early Saturday, as the two countries are still finalizing details to implement the plan.

The US and Canada announced on Wednesday they would close their shared border to "non-essential traffic" to curb transmission of the coronavirus.

Trudeau also said he was considering getting the military's help and urged Canadians to continue practicing social distancing.

Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne announced he was in self-isolating himself while awaiting his test results for COVID-19.

Trudeau said on Thursday he was considering getting the military's help and urged Canadians to continue practicing social distancing.

Chile

Chilean lawmakers said on Thursday they had reached agreement to postpone until late October a much-anticipated referendum on a new constitution as safety concerns around the coronavirus outbreak take precedence over politics.

The referendum, originally slated for April 26, will be rescheduled for Oct 25, lawmakers said. 

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced a "state of catastrophe" to confront the growing outbreak in Chile. On Thursday he announced a US$12 billion economic aid package.

Chile's health ministry has confirmed 342 coronavirus cases in the country, among the highest tallies in Latin America. No death has been reported in the country.

Egypt

Egyptian Minister of Migration Nabila Makram hailed Friday's evacuation of 1,700 Egyptian students stranded in Sudan over fears of the novel coronavirus.

Sudan has sealed off all sea ports, land crossings and airports since March 16.

The country said it would shut all cafes, shopping malls, sports clubs and nightclubs from 7 pm until 6 am local time every night until March 31.

The government said supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries and neighbourhood corner stores were exempt from the closure.

Flights were grounded on Thursday by noon local time until the end of March with the exception of outward-bound flights needed by foreign tourists to leave on schedule.  

Egypt on Thursday registered 46 new coronavirus cases, the health ministry said in a statement, bringing the total up to 256.

The ministry said that there was one new fatality, bringing the total number of deaths to 7.

Ethiopia

Three more COVID-19 cases have been reported in Ethiopia, bringing the total in the African country to nine, the health ministry said on Friday.

Finland

The Finnish government agreed on Friday on a wide financial assistance package ranging from loan guarantees to labor market support to boost the slowing economy, saying the measures total 15 billion euros (US$16.2 billion).

The most significant amount is an additional 10 billion euros used to guarantee companies' loans through Finnvera, state's financing and export credit company.

Germany

The German military is making preparations to help tackle the coronavirus crisis should other civil servants become overwhelmed with the outbreak, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said on Thursday.

"We are preparing for a worst-case scenario where a very large number of people will become infected and we have the human resources to help," she said.

The number of confirmed cases in Germany leapt by almost a third on Thursday to reach 11,000, with 20 known deaths to date, according to the Robert Koch Institute for Disease Control.

Georgia

Georgia will close all shops except for groceries, pharmacies and petrol stations in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said on Thursday.

Georgia has reported 40 confirmed cases of coronavirus. One patient has recovered while more than 1,200 people with suspected infections remain in quarantine, authorities said.

Greece

The Greek government will support the economy with at least 10 billion euros (US$10.67 billion), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Thursday after announcing the country's 6th death from the coronavirus.

So far Greece has 464 confirmed cases registered nationwide, including 46 new cases which were diagnosed since Wednesday, the Health Ministry announced. 

Haiti

Haiti's government on Thursday declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak, closing the borders of the Americas' poorest nation and imposing a curfew after authorities detected the first two cases of infection.

President Jovenel Moise said at a news conference that all the Caribbean country's ports, airports and borders would be closed to people from midnight on Thursday, though they would remain open for goods traffic.

Schools, universities, places of worship and industrial parks would be closed, and a curfew would be in force from 8 pm to 5 am as of Friday, he added.

Ireland

Ireland's schools could stay closed until May with a big rise in coronavirus cases expected over the coming days as testing ramps up, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told a meeting of his Fine Gael party on Thursday.

Morocco

Morocco has declared a health emergency and will restrict movement across the country from 6 pm on Friday to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus, the interior ministry said.

The North African country has confirmed 63 cases of the coronavirus and two deaths. Most of the sick caught the virus abroad, but it has now also started to transmit within Moroccan cities.

Niger

Niger confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Thursday, involving a 36-year-old Nigerien woman who had recently travelled to Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso, the health minister said in a statement.

Nigeria

Nigeria announced the closure of three international airports in the country late Thursday as part of precautionary measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

The three airports to be shut are Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu and the Port Harcourt International Airport in Omagwa.

Four new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Nigeria's commercial hub, Lagos, on Thursday, bringing the tally in the country to 12, health officials said.

Portugal

Portugal's government told people to stay indoors but assured them there would be enough food on the shelves as a nationwide state of emergency to combat the coronavirus outbreak began on Thursday.

For at least 15 days, all non-essential businesses will be closed to customers, although restaurants will be allowed to provide takeaway services. Supermarkets, pharmacies, bakeries, petrol stations and banks will remain open but must implement capacity restrictions.

Those infected with coronavirus or being monitored by health authorities will stay in mandatory isolation, and it would be a crime for them to leave the hospital or their homes, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said.

Portugal has 785 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with four reported deaths.

Russia

Russian scientists have begun testing prototypes of potential vaccines against the new coronavirus on animals in a laboratory in Siberia, Russia's consumer health regulator said on Friday.

Russia has reported 199 coronavirus cases so far, and one person diagnosed with the virus has died.

Scientists expect it will be possible to start rolling out a vaccine in the last three months of 2020, Rospotrebnadzor, the regulator, said in a statement.

Serbia

Serbia on Thursday closed its airport and said it will shut all road and rail borders other than to freight traffic, as well as halt all internal passenger transport in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Passenger flights were banned from Belgrade's Nikola Tesla airport, operated by France's Vinci, for the first time since 1999 when flights were halted during the NATO bombing of the country and the war in Kosovo.

The airport remains open only for humanitarian flights and planes with special permits. 

"Nothing but trucks will be allowed to enter," President Aleksandar Vucic said. "From noon tomorrow we will also halt commercial passenger transport inside the country."

Serbia currently has 103 confirmed coronavirus cases, up from 97 from earlier in the day, out of 506 people tested. There have been no fatalities so far.

Slovenia

The Slovenian government adopted a decree on Thursday to contain the COVID-19 epidemic, which bans gatherings and other events in public areas and restricts people's movement.

The decree comes into force at midnight on March 20 and is valid until revoked.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said certain measures such as the ban of passenger flights and restrictions for some other activities would be toned down in the coming weeks when additional protective equipment arrived and safety procedures were laid down.

The number of confirmed cases in Slovenia rose by 33 to 319, with one death.

South Africa

The Embattled South African Airways (SAA) on Friday said that it was suspending all its international flights up until the end of May in light of a government travel ban aimed at stopping transmission of the novel coronavirus.

South Africa's Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases had risen by 52 to 202, with the first cases recorded in the Free State province.

Tunisia

The Tunisian health authorities said on Friday that the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country has risen to 54.

Among the confirmed cases are four in critical situation, Ben Alaya added.

"The average age of infected people is 45, half men and half women," the health official said.

By Friday, 11,000 people have been placed in quarantine in Tunisia, of whom 3,440 have completed the quarantine period. 

On Thursday, the Tunisian health ministry announced the first death from COVID-19 in the North African country.

US

The United States warned Americans on Thursday to return home or stay abroad indefinitely, while Senate Republicans unveiled a US$1 trillion economic stimulus plan to provide funds directly to businesses and the American public, as the number of coronavirus cases in the country surged past 13,000.

California's governor issued an unprecedented statewide "stay at home order" directing the state's 40 million residents to hunker down in their homes for the foreseeable future in the face of the fast-spreading coronavirus pandemic.

The governor's order goes into effect immediately and is in place until further notice.

The head of the US National Guard said that he expected that tens of thousands National Guard troops could eventually be involved in efforts to help deal with the fast-moving coronavirus in the United States, but he did not see a need to federalize them.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was working with his Mexican counterpart on travel restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Venezuela

Venezuela confirmed six new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the country's tally to 42 cases.

President Nicolas Maduro's administration has implemented a nationwide quarantine and restricted travel between states in an attempt to contain the outbreak.

In a separate measure to contain the spread of the virus, Venezuela's INEA maritime authority has prohibited crews aboard ships docking in the country's ports from disembarking, according to a March 17 document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The order also prohibited new personnel from boarding the tankers.

Swiss

The number of coronavirus cases in Switzerland and Liechtenstein has risen by 952 within a day to 4,840 people, Swiss health authorities said on Friday, with 43 people reported to have died from the disease.

Belgium 

Belgium recorded 16 new deaths on Thursday because of coronavirus, for a total of 37 in the country, the biggest daily rise since the beginning of the epidemic, a spokesman for the Belgian health ministry said on Friday.

The country added 462 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of infected in the country to 2257.

Ukraine

Ukraine has confirmed its first recovered case of COVID-19, according to a video address posted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on his official Facebook page on Friday.

"A patient from Chernivtsi took a second laboratory coronavirus test and it showed a negative result for the second time. So, now we can officially state: Today, the first person recovered from coronavirus in Ukraine. Today, he will be discharged from the hospital and will return home," the president said.

Zelensky also gave a brief update on the efforts made to prevent the spread of the pandemic in Ukraine. He noted that the government plans to increase the number of available tests, medication and protective gear.

Currently, there are 26 confirmed coronavirus cases in Ukraine, including three deaths.