Austria is introducing border checks and will deny entry to people arriving from Italy, drastically stepping up measures aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Tuesday.
The announcement comes a day after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the whole of his country was being placed under lockdown until next month, an unprecedented and unexpected new attempt to beat coronavirus in Europe's worst-affected country.
While there will be exceptions, such as for people passing through Austria without stopping and for goods transport, the border measures are exceptional for the small country wedged between Italy and Germany and part of the Schengen open-border area.