The Louvre museum in Paris kept its doors closed to visitors Sunday as staff withheld labour citing fears over the coronavirus, a union representative told AFP.
Some 300 staff of the world's most visited museum met in the morning and voted "almost unanimously" not to open in the morning, Christian Galani of the CGT labour union told AFP.
"The meeting was arranged to discuss the concerns of staff," he said, adding management representatives were unable to convince workers to go to work.
France has recorded 100 coronavirus cases, and two deaths, since the end of January.
On Saturday, the government announced several measures to try and curb the outbreak, including cancelling all gatherings of more than 5,000 people in confined spaces.
"The Louvre is a confined space which welcomes more than 5,000 people a day," said Galani, adding: "there is real concern on the part of staff."
Workers are demanding stepped up protective measures, including the provision of hand sanitising gel and window barriers to separate cashiers from members of the public.
The Louvre received 9.6 million visitors in 2019.
Italy plans economic rescue
Italy's economy minister promised Sunday to deliver 3.6 billion euros ($4 million) in emergency aid -- equivalent to 0.2 percent of the country's entire economy -- to sectors affected by the new coronavirus epidemic.
The package must still be approved by the Italian parliament and the European Union.
"By next Friday, we will adopt (measures) to support the economy for all the sectors affected across the country," Roberto Gualtieri said in an interview published in Sunday's La Repubblica newspaper.
"I have no reason to fear Brussels contesting our request."
Every EU member state must keep within strict budget rules and limit deficit spending to set amounts or face sanctions and fines from Brussels.
Gualtieri said the aid could take various forms and include tax credits for businesses.
He also announced that the 19 eurozone finance ministers will discuss a possible joint action plan at their meeting on March 16.
Italy's public deficit for 2019 will be disclosed on Monday by the state statistics agency.
Gualtieri said the figure should come in at "between 1.6 and 1.7 percent" of gross domestic product and well within the constraints set by Brussels.
Italy's financial health is "very good", he said.
But he also admitted that the epidemic would make a tangible impact on growth over the first three months of 2020.
The Italian government had already on Friday unveiled a first set of support measures for businesses and communities in 11 small towns in northern Italy quarantined because of the outbreak.
COVID-19 has killed 29 people and infected more than 1,000 people in Italy.