Daily US Times, Milan: Italy will close all schools and universities across the country until mid-March in an effort to stop coronavirus from spreading further.
The plan reportedly discussed at a government meeting focusing on the introduction of emergency measures for tackling the spread of coronavirus, but the official announcement is not made yet.
Italian Education Minister Lucia Azzolina did not deny the media reports. The minister said it had not yet been taken but would be decided “in the next few hours”.
Italy is one of the worst affected country from the coronavirus outbreak. The country became Europe’s hot-bed for the virus, which has killed 79 people in the country and crippled economic activity in the rich northern regions.
In closing schools, Italy would follow similar measures by Japan which is enforcing a complete school shutdown due to last until April, and Hong Kong.
If Italy shut down schools and universities, as many as 8.7 million children and students would be affected from kindergarten to high schools, as well as their families. Many in the afflicted regions, from Milan to Venice and Bologna, are already confined at home.
Italy traced its first coronavirus case on February 20. After that the government imposed a quarantine on two areas – one encompassing 10 Lombardy towns southeast of Milan, and another, smaller red zone in the region of Veneto to the east.
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