Coronavirus: Eurostar passengers will have to wear masks

Catering facilities in trains and stations have closed

Passengers risk being fined if they don't have a mask. AP

Eurostar passengers will be required to wear face masks from next week as part of measures to cut close-contact transmission of the novel coronavirus.

"From May 4, passengers must wear a face mask or face covering at our stations and on board, in line with guidelines announced by the French and Belgian governments," the company said on Saturday.

UK-based Eurostar has been running a reduced service since the outbreak because of movement restrictions, increased border checks and lower demand.

It told passengers on its cross-Channel trains between London, Paris and Brussels that anyone not covering their mouth and nose may be refused travel or fined by the French and Belgian authorities.

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  Italian police officers carry out document permit checks and self-certifications against citizens walking down in Torino street, Milan. EPA

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  A man wearing a protective mask walks in the deserted Piazza Duomo (Cathedral Square), the symbol of the city. EPA

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  Medical workers stretch a patient from an Italian Red Cross ambulance into an intensive care unit set up in a sports center outside the San Raffaele hospital in Milan. AFP

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  Members of the Logistics Brigade of the Spanish Army work to convert a Fira pavilion into a shelter center for homeless people in Barcelona. Reuters

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  Relatives react next to a coffin of a person who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the crematorium of La Almudena cemetery during partial lockdown to combat the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Madrid, Spain, March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Juan Medina

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  A woman wears a face mask as she carries a pack of toilet paper in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. AFP

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  Medical personnel demonstrate taking nose and throat mucous samples for coronavirus testing in Munich, Germany. Getty Images

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  People walk their dogs in London. Reuters

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  The deserted escalators inside Leicester Square underground station in central London. AFP

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  Banners showing support for NHS staff are displayed at Stepping Hill Hospital in Manchester. Reuters

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  French Gendarmes control a man near the Eiffel tower in Paris. Reuters

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  Tents with intensive care units installed by French Army are seen at a miitary field hospital near Mulhouse hospital. Reuters

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  French rescue team wearing protective suits carry a patient on a stretcher from Mulhouse hospital. Reuters

The measures were among those to be introduced as governments on both sides of the English Channel look at easing stringent lockdown restrictions.

Catering facilities on trains and in stations have been closed, and special assistance suspended because of social distancing requirements, the company's website said.

It also advised passengers that France was restricting travel to EU citizens of mainland continental Europe returning home to their main residence.

UK and non-EU citizens with a residency permit in an EU country, plus essential workers, were allowed to travel, it added.

But all passengers required additional paperwork in France to show their trip was essential.

Belgium, which has had the highest number of coronavirus fatalities per capita rate in the world – 67 per 100,000 people – begins to ease its lockdown on Monday.

Belgium's method of compiling data attributes some deaths to Covid-19 even if a test has not confirmed it, which is not the case in many other countries.

Meanwhile, anyone travelling on public transport in Belgium is required to cover their mouth and nose or risk a fine.

France, which there have been nearly 25,000 deaths, has made a similar requirement. It is gradually lifting its restrictions from May 11.

Britain, which there have been more than 28,000 deaths, has not told the public to wear masks, although Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week indicated they could be "useful" when restrictions are lifted.