Sunday, then, provided the first glimpse of a coronavirus lockdown, European-style — a test of how the open-borders spirit of this continent might change as countries grapple with the scale and risks of the disease.

As the day went on, it became clear that Italy was not trying to impose anything close to the absolute movement restrictions that have been enforced by China. Some analysts pointed out that even limited movement outside Italy’s north risked further spreading the virus, and for the first time a European Union leader — Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis — suggested Italy’s government needed to do more to interrupt the flow of its citizens across the bloc’s borders.

“Italy should ban all its citizens from traveling to Europe,” Babis told Czech Television on Sunday. He said Europe was unable to take its own action because its Schengen rules allow movement across borders without passport control.

Other European countries have insisted that borders remain open. It was unclear whether either scenario would help stop the outbreak from spreading as …continued .
[Source: Washington Post]