Italy closes schools and universities as it plans a ban on KISSING to stop the coronavirus spread

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Italy closes all schools and universities as it plans a ban on KISSING to stop the coronavirus spread

  • The number infected in Italy soared to more than 2,500 today, including 79 dead
  • All schools and universities are to be closed until mid-March, government said 
  • PM Giuseppe Conte’s government is expected to provide new health rules today
  • The recommendations for all of Italy include not to kiss, hug or shake hands

By Ross Ibbetson For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Italy will close all schools and universities, the government said today, to protect against the coronavirus which has infected more than 2,500 in the country and killed 79.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is also expected to release new rules which will tell the nation they cannot kiss because of the virus.

As part of today’s measures, schools and universities will be shuttered until mid-March, while the government is advising against kissing, hugging and shaking hands, ANSA reported.

The guidance expected to be circulated nationwide later today also advises people to stand three feet apart at all times, even indoors, to protect against saliva droplets which can transmit the disease. 

Revellers at the Venice Carnival last month kissing in the street. As of today Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is expected to advise against such affection over coronavirus fears

A schoolteacher looks at his shuttered workplace in the small town of Bareggio near Milan - it has been closed since last month but today the government has rolled out the strict measure to every school and university in the country until mid-March

A schoolteacher looks at his shuttered workplace in the small town of Bareggio near Milan – it has been closed since last month but today the government has rolled out the strict measure to every school and university in the country until mid-March

The three northern regions in the ‘red zone’ – Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna – have already had their schools closed since last month. 

Ten percent of virus patients in Italy were in intensive care with respiratory problems, the health chief of the Lombardy region in northern Italy has said.

Giulio Gallera said that they were almost exclusively over 65 years old and asked all elderly people in the region to leave home as little as possible for the next two weeks. 

Giovanni Rezza, the head of the infectious diseases department at the national health institute, yesterday said that schools were a key area to keep control of the virus.

‘Not because children are vulnerable – they don’t suffer as much as adults – but they can transmit it to parents and grandparents,’ he said. 

He also had a warning for countries like the UK where the virus is starting to spread, saying: ‘Be very careful and contain clusters as soon as possible.’  

The Pope - who has tested negative for the virus after suffering cold-like symptoms - kissing a child in Bari, Italy, on February 23

The Pope – who has tested negative for the virus after suffering cold-like symptoms – kissing a child in Bari, Italy, on February 23

Primary school pupils in the 'red zone' area of San Fiorano where schools have already been closed - the closures are now to be rolled out to all schools and universities nationwide to stop the spread of COVID-19

Primary school pupils in the ‘red zone’ area of San Fiorano where schools have already been closed – the closures are now to be rolled out to all schools and universities nationwide to stop the spread of COVID-19

The Pope tests negative for coronavirus

Pope Francis has tested negative for coronavirus after he was forced to cancel a series of engagements last week due to illness.

The 83-year-old pontiff was given a ‘routine’ test after falling ill on Ash Wednesday with symptoms of a cold including a cough, fever, chills and sore throat. 

He was given a swab test as a precaution but the results have come back negative, according to Italian newspaper Il Messaggero. 

Medics have not said what the Pope is suffering from, but he previously described it as ‘a cold’. 

Francis’s last full day of public engagements was on Ash Wednesday, when he appeared ill while taking part in an evening Mass.

He was seen coughing, sneezing and appeared tired during the ceremony, before cancelling an engagement the following morning.

He then disappeared from public view for the next four days while he recovered.

Officials in Italy also said it could take up to two weeks to know whether measures including quarantines in 11 northern towns were working. 

Nearby in France the latest death was reported in the Oise department northeast of Paris, in the country’s most significant cluster. 

With at least 212 cases, including 47 in the Oise, France is the third worst affected country in Europe after Italy and Germany.

The Louvre in Paris, however, re-opened today after it was closed from Sunday because staff had walked out over fears of the coronavirus.

In China, the number of new reported virus cases dropped again Tuesday, with just 125 new cases after a six-week low of 202 a day earlier. 

It’s still by far the hardest-hit country, with 80,151 cases and 2,943 deaths.

The virus has been detected in at least 70 countries with 90,000 cases and 3,100 deaths. 

The U.S.’ count of COVID-19 cases surpassed 100 in 11 states.

President Donald Trump and his Cabinet met with pharmaceutical executives Monday to discuss how to speed the search for a vaccine.