Italy to close all schools for 2 weeks over COVID-19
Posted March 4, 2020 8:44 am.
Last Updated March 4, 2020 1:22 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Italy has ordered schools to close nationwide through March 15 in a bid to contain the coronavirus, saying the prudent suspension was taken after a careful analysis of how the epidemic was spreading.
Civil protection officials said Wednesday a total of 3,089 people have tested positive in Italy and 107 of them had died — the largest number of deaths outside of China. Italy is the epicenter of Europe’s outbreak.
Education Minister Lucia Azzolina announced the school suspensions, which start Thursday, saying she hoped schools would be able to continue with lessons via distance learning.
Italy has seen its virus caseload explode since the first homegrown positive test was registered in northern Lombardy on Feb. 19.
Meanwhile, the Baltic nation of Lithuania has cancelled most of the indoor events planned for the 30th anniversary of its independence from the Soviet Union because of the coronavirus.
The speaker of the Lithuanian parliament said Wednesday authorities decided to call off the events since many of the people expected to attend the events are elderly and at higher risk of infection.
Parliament speaker Viktoras Pranckietis says most foreign leaders also cancelled scheduled trips to attend the anniversary events in Lithuania. He didn’t name names, but invitations had been sent to lawmakers in Ukraine, Poland and neighbouring Baltic states Latvia and Estonia.
There will be several events in downtown Vilnius, including a flag-raising on Independence Square on March 11 and an evening concert.
Lithuania so far only has reported one virus case.
Meanwhile, the Louvre Museum in France is open again after employees worried about catching the coronavirus agreed to return to work.
The Paris museum where Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting hangs had been closed since Sunday while employees fearing infection stayed off the job.
But Louvre staff members voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to resume work and the Louvre opened its doors in the afternoon.
Management presented a raft of new anti-virus measures to try to coax employees back to work. Among them: wider distributions of disinfectant gels and more frequent staff rotations so employees have time to wash their hands.
