PARIS (AP) — France requisitioned protective masks and sent tens of thousands of students home from school, Norway blocked 1,200 passengers on a cruise ship; and Spain isolated dozens of health workers as the new coronavirus spread further into Europe on Tuesday.

With the new coronavirus taking firmer hold in Europe, the continent is facing many of the same complications seen in Asia weeks ago.

Around 120 French schools were ordered to close, most in Brittany and the Oise region north of Paris, which have been hit hard by COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Italy closed schools in the hard-hit regions of Lombardy and Veneto last week, and the closure of schools in Emilia Romagna was announced last weekend. All student outings have been canceled nationwide, including off-site after-school activities. In addition, a handful of schools are closed or under quarantine in Germany and even in Poland, which has no confirmed cases of the disease so far.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced in a tweet that the government was requisitioning all current and future stocks of protective masks in order to ensure their distribution to virus patients and health workers.

France's education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer, told LCI television it was probable that more schools could close and confirmed that he had ordered a freeze on all school trips. But he cautioned against rushing to a general shutdown of the education system.

“It wouldn’t make sense to confine everyone at home, to paralyze the country,” he said.

Around 100 health workers were being kept under isolation in northern Spain and at least 120 more closely watched by authorities after a cluster of the new coronavirus infected at least five doctors and nurses in hospitals, said the Basque health regional minister, Nekane Murga.

Health authorities in the northern affluent region are also speeding up hiring of new doctors to help a possible shortage of health professionals in coming months, Murga said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine reported its first confirmed case of the new virus in a man who had recently arrived from Italy.

In Haugesund, southern Norway, a German cruise ship with 1,200 passengers was blocked while awaiting for the results of two passengers to be tested, Norwegian broadcaster NRK said. The Aida Aura was supposed to leave Monday but was still in Haugesund Tuesday and passengers were being kept on board. The ship's operator later said the two German passengers tested negative for the illness and they hoped to be underway soon.

Travelers from northern Italy, along with South Korea and Iran, now face a ban in Singapore and will not be allowed entry or even to transit in the country. And Saudi Arabia advised citizens and residents to postpone travel to Germany and France due to the spread of the coronavirus in those countries.

The Geneva International Motor Show resorted to putting automakers' product unveilings and news conferences online Tuesday after this year's show was canceled. BMW presented its sleek i4 electric concept car at a digital news conference from Munich, while competitors Daimler and Volkswagen held their own online events.

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