Coronavirus – Europeans use fines, jail and drones to stop people gathering and enforce distancing as Brits still mingle

EUROPE has imposed draconian restrictions on its citizens in a desperate bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

While a ban on restaurants, pubs and other places where people gather was announced by Boris Johnson, the weekend saw Brits freely mingling.

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UK

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Cinemas, theatres and galleries will also close and the measures will remain in place for at least a month to strengthen social distancing.

The Prime Minister has warned that tougher measures maybe needed in order to force people to stop public gatherings.

But other countries hit by the coronavirus have already imposed tough restrictions on citizens' everyday lives.

FRANCE

France has imposed some of the tightest controls in Europe on people’s movements for the past six days.

The restrictions, which confine people to their homes except for certain types of work and essential travel.

Residents are only allowed to leave their homes for grocery shopping, to go to the pharmacy, or light exercise within a 1.2 mile radius of their home.

People are required to work from home unless they are essential staff, including hospital workers, petrol station attendants, or grocery store employees.

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Anyone breaching the new rules can be fined £127 - if they have not filled in a form justifying their outing.

Police are using the latest drone technology, as well as helicopters, to ensure that residents are staying indoors.

In Nice they have already deployed drones with loudspeakers to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.

ITALY

Italy banned travel within the country in yet another attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

Under the new rules sport and physical activity outside, even individually, is banned while even using vending machines is forbidden.

All parks are to be closed and people can only take exercise around their homes.

Both universities and schools are closed, with exams now cancelled, and all gatherings in public places have been banned, not just large-scale events.

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Italians must now stay where they were, unless urgent business or health reasons forces them to move to another town or region.

Like France, citizens also have to carry a form justifying their reasons for being out on the streets.

But the fine in Italy is higher, or £179, per person and curfew breakers can even be hit with a three-month jail term.

GERMANY

Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Germany's new curbs on gatherings of more than two people will be strictly enforced and will be enforced with fines.

The unprecedented nationwide measures are initially slated to remain in force for two weeks and will be imposed by individual states, who will decide when to roll them out.

Some exceptions to the public gathering rule will be allowed, including for families living under the same roof and going out together for fresh air.

On top of the ban on gatherings, businesses like massage studios and hairdressers where people come into close contact will be shut.

And restaurants will be closed across Germany except for takeaway food.

Merkel appealed to citizens' "reason and empathy" in implementing the contact restrictions, saying she had been "very moved" by how closely people had stuck to less stringent measures implemented in recent days.

SPAIN

All non-essential venues have been shut down and people told only to leave home if absolutely necessary for food or medication.

The government shuttered schools on March 11 and announced an official state of emergency on Friday.

All bars and restaurants have closed and there are fines of up to €600,000 for disobeying the lockdown ban.

Spaniards can also be jailed for up to a year.