Sebastian Kurz says it is a matter of time before other governments are forced to take drastic containment action

Austria’s chancellor has said other European countries will be forced to adopt containment measures as drastic as Italy’s, after Rome placed a quarter of the population in lockdown in an effort to halt the rapid spread of the coronavirus.

As the head of the World Health Organization praised Italy’s “genuine sacrifices”, Sebastian Kurz said the situation in Austria, which has reported 99 Covid-19 cases, was under control and the measures it had adopted were appropriate for the time being.

He said EU leaders and health ministers were in close contact over their countries’ handling of the epidemic, which according to the Johns Hopkins tracker has so far infected more than 107,000 people worldwide and claimed more 3,650 lives.

“It will be important to decide which steps to take when,” Kurz said. “You can close schools for one or two weeks and this is urgently necessary in Italy. It will happen in other European countries. The decisive question is when to do it.”

Q&A How can I protect myself and others from the coronavirus outbreak? Show Hide The World Health Organization is recommending that people take simple precautions to reduce exposure to and transmission of the coronavirus, for which there is no specific cure or vaccine. The UN agency advises people to: Frequently wash their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or warm water and soap

Cover their mouth and nose with a flexed elbow or tissue when sneezing or coughing

Avoid close contact with anyone who has a fever or cough

Seek early medical help if they have a fever, cough and difficulty breathing, and share their travel history with healthcare providers

Advice about face masks varies. Wearing them while out and about may offer some protection against both spreading and catching the virus via coughs and sneezes, but it is not a cast-iron guarantee of protection Many countries are now enforcing or recommending curfews or lockdowns. Check with your local authorities for up-to-date information about the situation in your area. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

The difficulty will be in balancing the need to head off a peak in infections that could paralyse public health systems against excessive economic damage, he said. “You have to consider carefully when to adopt these measures, because a national economy cannot handle this over too long a period.”

Speaking to French radio, the EU commissioner for the single market, Thierry Breton, said European countries were “each acting according to the latest available data in their countries. The virus has spread faster in some places than in others, so naturally the measures in each differ”.

Quick guide What are coronavirus symptoms and should I go to a doctor? Show Hide What is Covid-19? Covid-19 is caused by a member of the coronavirus family that has never been encountered before. Like other coronaviruses, it has come from animals. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared it a pandemic. What are the symptoms this coronavirus causes? According to the WHO, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 are fever, tiredness and a dry cough. Some patients may also have a runny nose, sore throat, nasal congestion and aches and pains or diarrhoea. Some people report losing their sense of taste and/or smell. About 80% of people who get Covid-19 experience a mild case – about as serious as a regular cold – and recover without needing any special treatment. About one in six people, the WHO says, become seriously ill. The elderly and people with underlying medical problems like high blood pressure, heart problems or diabetes, or chronic respiratory conditions, are at a greater risk of serious illness from Covid-19. In the UK, the National health Service (NHS) has identified the specific symptoms to look for as experiencing either: a high temperature - you feel hot to touch on your chest or back

a new continuous cough - this means you’ve started coughing repeatedly As this is viral pneumonia, antibiotics are of no use. The antiviral drugs we have against flu will not work, and there is currently no vaccine. Recovery depends on the strength of the immune system. Should I go to the doctor if I have a cough? Medical advice varies around the world - with many countries imposing travel bans and lockdowns to try and prevent the spread of the virus. In many place people are being told to stay at home rather than visit a doctor of hospital in person. Check with your local authorities. In the UK, NHS advice is that anyone with symptoms should stay at home for at least 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 14 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home.

In the US, Anthony Fauci, the head of the infectious diseases unit at the National Institutes of Health, said Americans , and particularly those who are vulnerable, may have to stop attending big gatherings. Nor could large-scale quarantines be ruled out, he said.

The WHO director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, tweeted his appreciation for Rome’s efforts after the government published a decree barring people from entering or leaving vast areas of northern Italy without good reason until 3 April.

The quarantine zones are home to about 16 million people and include the regions around Venice and the financial capital, Milan. Cinemas, theatres and museums will be closed nationwide and leave has been cancelled for health workers as the prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, said the country was facing a national emergency.

Tedros said the government and people of Italy, which has confirmed 7,375 cases and 366 deaths, were “taking bold, courageous steps aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus and protecting their country and the world”.

The lockdown allows people, including tourists, who were in the affected areas temporarily to return home. Italy’s borders with Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia remain open, but Alitalia, the national airline, suspended all national and international flights from Milan Malpensa airport.

Pope Francis expressed solidarity with the victims of the virus in a prayer and message livestreamed from the Vatican. Elsewhere in Europe, France confirmed 1,126 cases and 16 deaths. The health minister, Olivier Véran, announced a ban on all gatherings of more than 1,000 people.

Germany’s health minister, Jens Spahn, said organisers had been too reluctant to act but all public events with more than 1,000 participants should be called off. “Given how fast things are developing, that should change quickly,” he said. Bulgaria reported its first case on Sunday.

Spain confirmed 589 cases – a rise of 159 from Saturday – and 17 deaths, and the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, which has 25 cases, is in quarantine at his residence after a case of coronavirus was detected at a school whose students visited the presidential palace last week.

Belgium said it had confirmed 200 cases, including a second at the the European council in Brussels. Nearly 50 of the 3,000 staff at the organisation, which hosts ministerial meetings and EU summits, were told to stay at home.

In Iran, 49 new deaths were reported on Sunday, the country’s highest toll for a single 24-hour period. The figure brings the number of fatalities in the country to 194. It has also recorded 6,566 confirmed cases.

The epidemic has spread to 30 US states, killing at least 19 people. A man in his 50s tested positive for the virus in Washington, the first confirmed case in the capital, and another person who travelled through the city has also tested positive in Maryland. New York announced a state of emergency.

Two people who tested positive have died in Florida, marking the first deaths on the US east coast attributed to the outbreak. Donald Trump said he was not concerned at about the coronavirus getting closer to the White House.

More passengers on the US cruise ship Grand Princess have tested positive and the 3,533 passengers on board the vessel, which is to be allowed to dock in Oakland, California, on Monday, have been confined to their cabins. Another cruise ship carrying 2,000 people, the Costa Fortuna, was turned away by Malaysia and Thailand.

Colombia and Cost Rica reported their first cases of the virus over the weekend and a 64-year-old man died in Argentina, marking the first coronavirus fatality in Latin America.

The number of infections in South Korea passed 7,000. In China, however, only 44 new cases were reported on Sunday, the lowest in weeks. Nearly all of them were in Wuhan, the centre of the outbreak and the remainder imported from abroad, including Italy and Spain.

At least 10 people were killed in the collapse of a hotel in Quanzhou in eastern China that was being used to isolate people who had arrived from other parts of the country, authorities said on Sunday.