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As Coronavirus (COVD-19) continues sweeping through the world, several European countries have reported spike in infections and deaths in recent days, and the continent has become the new “epicentre” of the pandemic, according to the World Health Organization.

On Friday March 13, U.S President Donald Trump declared National Emergency as the deadly virus hit 48 states of the US, with over 2,200 cases and 51 deaths in the US alone.

President Trump on Thursday March 12 announced suspension of all travel from Europe to the U.S. for the next 30 days effective Saturday morning. UK and Ireland were excluded at the time of the announcement, but in swift reaction to the increasing cases of the deadly virus in UK and all over the world, the US extended the travel ban to the UK and Ireland on Saturday March 14.

The ban will begin at midnight EST on Monday (04:00 GMT Tuesday), Vice-President Mike Pence announced.

President Trump’s travel ban on 26 European countries, members of the Schengen free movement zone, came into force on Saturday.

Governments are taking emergency measures to curb the outbreak, including school closures, travel bans and economic stimulus packages to protect jobs.

Effective midnight Monday, the travel restrictions @DHSgov announced on Schengen countries will apply to Ireland & the UK. Restrictions do not apply for travel from the US to Ireland & transatlantic flights continue to operate as scheduled. Consult airline websites for more info. https://t.co/wDHRGQPCyX — Embassy of Ireland USA (@IrelandEmbUSA) March 14, 2020

If you’re just visiting our site, here’s a recap of some of the biggest developments today:

The total number of confirmed cases in the UK doubled in the last 24 hours with a total of 1,140 while 37,746 people have been tested.

Spain has recorded 1,500 more cases of Covid-19 since Friday evening – nearly 1,000 of these are in the capital, Madrid. This brings the national total to 191 deaths and 6,046 infections, and to curb the spread the government is poised to declare a 15-day national lockdown on Monday. This means people would be allowed out only for emergencies or work, or to buy food.

Italy continues to be the worst-hit country in Europe. Its official death toll has jumped 14% to 1,441, and total confirmed cases have risen to 21,157.

Denmark reported its first death from the virus – an 81-year-old who was already in hospital for a serious illness.

The Czech government has ordered shops and restaurants to close for 10 days. Schools have already been closed in the country and bans are in place on public events like sports games and concerts.

Norway has announced that it will temporarily close all its airports from Monday 0800 CET (0700 GMT) to stop the virus from spreading

In collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization, the Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering, updates the daily Coronavirus statistics worldwide through this link