From midnight on Sunday, the Czech Republic will effectively seal its borders in an effort contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Czechs are being encouraged to return home immediately. Those who find themselves stranded outside the country’s borders after midnight will still be allowed to return home, although those arriving from 15 ‘high-risk’ countries will have to undergo quarantine. But once home they - along with virtually every Czech citizen - will not be allowed to leave the country for the duration of the 30-day state of emergency.

It's the most draconian restrictions introduced by a Czech government in the country's 27 years as an independent state.

Jan Hamacek, Czech Minister of the Interior, told the BBC it is "the only effective way" to combat the outbreak.

Most Czechs appear broadly sympathetic to the measures for perilous days, although there are voices of dissent.

Petr Kutilek, a local politician for the Green Party, said he believed the government had not given a proper explanation of why such extreme limits were being imposed.

“They also raise doubts that [the government] is in fact covering up for failures in providing health care professionals and other frontline responders with respirators and other vital equipment,” he added.

For most Czechs, free movement is one of the hallowed four freedoms of EU membership. People seem ready to relinquish that right. At least for 30 days.