Italian government closing all schools, appeal to refrain from hugs and kisses
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The Italian government is closing all of Italy’s schools because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The decision was taken after a Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
All of Italy’s schools and universities will be closed from Thursday until the middle of March because of the coronavirus, sources quoted by ANSA said Wednesday.
Schools are currently closed in the northern regions worst hit by the emergency, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, as well as in Piedmont and Friuli Venezia Giulia and in the province of Savona, in Liguria, and Pesaro-Urbino, in Marche.
Silvio Brusaferro, the president of Italy’s higher health institute, has advised people to stop the traditional Italian greeting of kissing on the cheek as a part of the effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Hugs should be suspended during social interactions for the time being too.
He also said people should frequently wash their hands, avoid crowded places and keep a distance of one to two metres from other people.
People with respiratory conditions have been advised to stay at home. “We have to work for the country by staying within the rules and adopting lifestyles that halt the classic paths of transmission,” Brusaferro said.
Some 2,263 people have been infected with the coronavirus in Italy and 79 people have now died with it, emergency commissioner and civil protection chief Angelo Borrelli said Tuesday. Some 160 people have recovered, he said.
