Germany’s aid package represents the first time the country has taken on debt since adopting a balanced-budget law after the 2008 financial crisis. It’s yet another sign of growing urgency across the Continent — particularly in Spain, which has nearly a third of Europe’s 100,000-plus confirmed cases.

Initial missteps by officials in Italy have underscored the importance of early, strict isolation measures. Yet the stringent new measures being hastily imposed from Berlin to Barcelona still may not be enough to stop the virus from overwhelming more health systems. On Saturday, Italy reported 793 additional deaths, the biggest single-day toll of any country so far.

Other news from Europe and beyond:

Spain’s Parliament is expected to approve the government’s request to extend a national state of emergency until at least April 11. Lorenzo Sanz, the former president of the soccer powerhouse Real Madrid, died on Saturday after contracting the virus.

A 5.3-magnitude earthquake hit that just north of Zagreb, Croatia, on Sunday, injuring at least 17 people, has complicated the country’s efforts to respond to the outbreak.

Germany barred groups of more than two people from gathering, except for families, while Britain closed its pubs and schools.

The Palestinian authorities reported the first two coronavirus cases in the densely populated Gaza Strip, where aid workers say the virus’s spread could quickly lead to a public health disaster.

Canada said it would not send its athletes to the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, after the International Olympic Committee announced that it would decide within four weeks whether to delay or scale down the Games.

Early evidence suggests that a lost or reduced sense of smell, along with a loss of taste, are significant symptoms associated with Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.

Video: Three doctors and a nurse in a hard-hit region of Italy describe what they faced as the epidemic escalated.

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