Foreign tourists leave Spain as emergency declared

Foreign tourists were scrambling to leave Spain on Monday after the country's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared a two-week state of emergency to try to contain the coronavirus.

Spain has announced sharp new restrictions on the movement of people across their borders, and bars, golf clubs, restaurants, museums and many accommodation sites have closed in order to slow the spread of the pandemic.

Some Canadian tourists in the popular resort of Malaga were racing to get home after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he will close the country's borders to anyone not a citizen, an American or a permanent resident.

He urged Canadian citizens abroad to return home, and said even they have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival.

Only China, Italy and Iran have more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than Spain, where the number of infections increased overnight by roughly 20%, to 9,191, and the number of fatalities rose to 309, according to the Spanish Health Ministry.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.