In this photo provided by Comunidad de Madrid, beds for COVID-19 patients are placed at IFEMA convention center in Madrid, Spain on March 21, 2020. Spanish health authorities have acknowledged that some intensive care units in the hardest-hit areas are close to their limit. (COMUNIDAD DE MADRID VIA AP)

MADRID/ROME/BERLIN/NEW YORK/WASHINGTON/BUCHAREST/HAVANA/ADDIS ABABA – As coronavirus cases ballooned in Europe, several countries imposed or planned new restrictions to try to curb the spread. 

Italy recorded a jump in deaths from coronavirus of almost 800 on Saturday, taking the toll in the world’s hardest-hit country to almost 5,000.

While Britain told panic-buyers to calm down, California and three other US states directed tens of millions of people to stay at home.

Italy 

Italy recorded a jump in deaths from coronavirus by 793 to 4,825 in the largest one-day rise since the contagion emerged a month ago.

In its latest desperate effort to halt the epidemic Rome ordered that all businesses must close until April 3, with the exception of those essential to maintaining the country’s supply chain.

READ MORE: 'Strange pneumonia cases seen in Italy' before China outbreak

Italy on Thursday overtook China as the country worst hit by the highly contagious virus.

Spain

The Spanish government plans to extend the state of emergency by 15 more days, El Pais reported Sunday, citing comments by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The current 15-day state of emergency was declared March 14 and did not require backing from parliament. 

On Saturday, Spain reported a 32 percent increase in the number of deaths and a 25 percent rise in the number of confirmed cases, which reached 24,926. The country already has the second worst tally of deaths in Europe, behind Italy.

ALSO READ: Spain toll tops 1,000, Paris closes Seine riverside promenades

Reported infections rose to 53,578 from 47,021, the Civil Protection Agency said. There were 2,857 people in intensive care, up from 2,655.

United States

Nearly 1 in 4 Americans were under orders to close up shop and stay at home on Saturday, as lawmakers in Washington neared a deal that could pump a record US$1 trillion into the economy to limit the economic damage from the coronavirus.

The US Food and Drug Administration has meanwhile approved the first rapid coronavirus diagnostic test, with a detection time of about 45 minutes, as the US struggles to meet the demand for coronavirus testing.

The test’s developer, California-based molecular diagnostics company Cepheid, said on Saturday it had received an emergency use authorization from the FDA for the test, which will be used primarily in hospitals and emergency rooms. The company plans to begin shipping it to hospitals next week, it said.

This photo shows the Royal Mile, part of the Old Town of Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain, March 21, 2020, on the first day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered pubs and restaurants across the country to close. (JANE BARLOW/PA VIA AP)

Britain

Britain told people panic-buying and hoarding food to calm down on Saturday, pointing to a video on social media showing an exhausted nurse driven to tears by finding shelves bare after her shift.

READ MORE: UK closes pubs, restaurants, NY shuts non-essential businesses

Germany

The German government asked domestic car manufacturers to consider producing medical equipment such as masks or ventilators to help fight the rapidly spreading coronavirus.

The request forms part of wider efforts by authorities to tap engineering and production resources and tackle severe supply bottlenecks in critical medical equipment, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the talks aren’t public.

Uganda

President Yoweri Museveni has ordered the closure of all borders from midnight Sunday after the eastern African country reported its first coronavirus case.

The ban will still allow cargo to come into the country under certain conditions, Museveni said, according to a statement from the Department of Press and Public Relations. Domestic flights will continue, though that may change if the virus outbreak deteriorates, it said.

The Ministry of Health said Sunday the first Covid-19 case was a 36-year-old Ugandan national who returned home from Dubai with a fever. The patient tested positive for the virus at hospital, it said.

Romania

The Romanian government late Saturday declared a curfew and required citizens to stay at home as much as possible during daytime in the latest move to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Interior Minister Marcel Vela said the curfew will be imposed between 22:00 and 06:00 beginning Sunday, with the exemptions for professional reasons, shopping of daily necessities, and necessary medical services.

City workers walk after spraying disinfectant on the streets as a preventive measure against the spread of the new coronavirus, in Caracas, Venezuela, March 21, 2020. (MATIAS DELACROIX / AP)

Venezuela 

Venezuela’s government is shutting fuel stations nationwide to ration dwindling gasoline inventories as a quarantine designed to stop the coronavirus paralyzes the country, seven people said.

Just a few dozen of Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s 1,800 gas stations across the country will remain open and operated by the nation’s armed forces to allow medical, food and utilities’ transportation to fill up, said the people, who asked not to be named as the plan is still private.

Ethiopia

The Ethiopia Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) Sunday announced it has confirmed two more cases of COVID-19, bringing the total numbers of cases in the east African country to 11.

Ethiopia's first confirmed case of COVID-19 was on March 13, and since then confirmed cases of the virus has steadily grown in the country. 

Burkina Faso

The country has reported 11 new cases and 2 new death cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 75 and the number of death cases to five.

"As of March 21, we have 75 confirmed cases with 5 deaths", Martial Ouedraogo, National Coordinator of the response to the coronavirus epidemic, said in a statement Sunday. Five patients have recovered, he said, indicating that so far 604 people have been traced and isolated.

Gambia

The Gambia's government announced on Saturday night it will close borders with Senegal and suspend all flights from Monday in order to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"President Adama Barrow has approved the closure of the border between the Republic of The Gambia and the Republic of Senegal, effective midnight, on Monday," said a statement from the presidency.

Jamaica

A Cuban medical corps on Saturday arrived in the Jamaican capital Kingston to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic, Jamaican media reported.

Jamaica earlier this month declared the island a disaster area and requested Cuba to send medical professionals for help.