House-bound Italians and Spanish take to balconies and windows to applaud medics

People have take to their windows and balconies across Europe to applaud medical staff for their work during the coronavirus outbreak.

Footage from Spain, Portugal and Italy shows individuals in apartment blocks clapping and cheering in a show of support for doctors and nurses working through the crisis.

The tributes came following calls on Spanish social media for people to express their appreciation to the country's medical professionals.

  • People living in lockdown or under self-isolation applaud medical staff in show of appreciation:

Both Spain and Italy are on lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, with the World Health Organization warning Europe is now the epicentre the outbreak.

On Sunday, Covid-19 deaths in Spain doubled to 288 and more than 8,000 people had tested positive for the respiratory disease.

Meanwhile in Italy, the worst-affected country after China, the epicentre of the disease, as of Saturday, more than 1,400 had died from coronavirus and more than 21,000 people had tested positive for it.

Those living in self-isolation have also thought up novel ways to keep both themselves - and others - entertained during the lockdown.

Residents in Florence awoke to Puccini’s famous Nessun Dorma aria on Saturday as opera singer Maurizio Marchini performed from his apartment.

Quarantined Italians have been spotted on their balconies playing music and starting up singalongs with neighbours.

In Rome, the initiative culminated in a "sound mob" with residents opening their windows and creating music with whatever was to hand - including pots and pans.

  • ITV News Correspondent Stacey Foster reports on the latest measures brought in to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak in Spain:

The governments of Spain and France are among the latest to take increasingly desperate measures to contain the outbreak.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez used a national address to detail the exceptional measures that have come into place as part of a two-week state of emergency to fight the country’s sharp rise in infections.

A screen announces the closure of the Eiffel Tower after the French government banned all gatherings of over 100 people. Credit: AP

All schools and universities have been closed, along with restaurants, bars, hotels and other non-essential retail businesses.

The country's 47 millions people have been told to stay in their homes.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know