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Corona19 is rapidly increasing in Europe, mainly in Italy and Germany. The Paris Louvre, a major tourist attraction, has also decided to close temporarily after a staff vote.

Reporter Jung Hye-kyung reports.

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The Louvre is more than 9 am, the opening hour of Paris, France.

Tourists waited for the door to open in front of the glass pyramid.

[Misa / Philippines Tourist: I came to see Mona Lisa, but I am disappointed because it is closed. I don't know why the door was closed.]

The museum decided to temporarily close the staff vote without prior notice.

A day after the French government announced that it had banned events that attracted more than 5,000 people the day before, due to the rapid spread of Corona 19.

[Shandlin Bion / Museum Staff: Decision made by 300 service staff who sell exhibits and tickets. All but two agreed to be closed.]

Corona 19 is growing fast enough to make a sudden closure to the French Louvre, a holy place for European tourists.

In Italy, there were more than 500 confirmed patients all day, with 1,694 cumulative infections.

In Germany, the number of confirmed patients doubled in one day, 117 infected.

The first patient came from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Dominican health officials say a male Italian citizen in their 60s, who arrived in South Africa, has been confirmed for Corona19.

In the Middle East, including Iran, the number doubled in two days, surpassing 1,000.