Millions of Europeans were preparing to be confined to their homes to counter an explosion in coronavirus infections after Spain followed Italy by putting the whole country in lockdown and France ordered the closure of all non-essential public buildings.

The government in Spain, where the epidemic is spreading faster than anywhere else in the world, used emergency powers to implement the shutdown on Saturday evening with immediate effect. Underlying the urgency, the number of coronavirus deaths in Spain doubled to 288 between Saturday and Sunday while the total number of cases surged by more than a third to 7,753. Nearly half are in Madrid.

The measures imposed in Spain and France mean that about 174m people in Europe are now facing restrictions on their movements in their own country. Italy earlier this month became the first European country to order people to stay at home.