Italy coronavirus: Schools and colleges will close for two weeks
Italy is considering closing all schools and colleges in a bid to stem the outbreak of the coronavirus as the country’s death toll jumps to 107.
The Ansa news agency reported that the Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte decided to close all educational institutions for two weeks because of the rapid spread of the coronavirus.
Italy’s education minister, Lucia Azzolina, later confirmed the reports that schools and universities would be closed until mid March.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped from 2,502 on Tuesday to 3,090 today, and it is the worst affected country in Europe.
A draft decree has called on people not to shake hands or hug in an effort to curb the spread of infection. The government is also planning to ban public events and close cinemas and theatres across the country.
In another sign of mounting concern, the Italian sports minister said the government was likely to order all Serie A football matches to be played behind closed doors until the outbreak eases.
Cases of Covid-19 have hit 94,225 around the world, with 80,270 in mainland China, according to the John Hopkins University’s tracking system.
Italy had a handful of cases only a couple of weeks ago, before experiencing two huge spikes.
Last week Italy’s surge in coronavirus cases prompted a major stock sell-off as infections spread rapidly outside of China. It saw its three recorded cases turn into hundreds. As a result the government put 11 towns in northern Italy into lockdown.
And over the weekend Italy’s number of coronavirus cases spiked again by around 90 per cent. It now has 2,502 Covid-19 infections and a coronavirus death of toll of 79.
Which Italy regions have coronavirus cases?
Italy’s coronavirus outbreak initially affected wealthy northern towns that are tourist hot spots.
However, Covid-19 infections quickly spread south to Sicily and now just one of Italy’s 20 regions, Valle D’Aosta, has not reported a case, CNBC reported.
But Italy’s northern towns still have the highest numbers of infections. The Lombardy region has reported 1,520 cases, while Veneto has 307 cases. Emilia-Romagna has counted 420 cases.
Reuters reported that Emilia Romagna’s regional government said that two of its members had tested positive.
Airlines have stopped flights to Italy as the country’s surge in cases weighed on consumer demand to fly there.
Wizz Air warned of a 10 per cent drop in passengers as it stopped flying to Italy. And British Airways owner IAG has also reduced the number of flights it makes to the region.
Last week Easyjet said it would cancel a number of flights to Italy as it warned of a “significant softening of demand” across its network.
Where is Italy’s Covid-19 quarantine?
Italian authorities yesterday said they may set up a new so-called red zone quarantine to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
“None of us can be sure about the future evolution of the disease. This is an important week to understand what will happen,” the country’s Civil Protection Agency’s head, Angelo Borrelli, said.
Quarantine red zones already exist in Lombardy and Veneto, which have a combined 11 towns in lockdown. No citizens can leave those areas under the quarantine rules.
And so-called yellow zones elsewhere allow free movements, but schools, sports venues and bars and restaurants closed 10 days ago.