Millions Out of School as WHO Calls for Stronger Virus Response

By Staff, Agencies

Almost 300 million students worldwide faced weeks at home with Italy and India the latest to shut schools over the deadly new coronavirus, as health officials warned many countries were not doing enough to fight the outbreak.

More than 97,000 people have been infected and over 3,300 have died worldwide from the virus, which by Thursday had reached more than 80 countries and territories.

The US state of California declared an emergency following its first coronavirus fatality – raising the US death toll to 11 – and a cruise ship was kept offshore after passengers and crew members developed symptoms.

Britain and Switzerland also reported their first deaths from the outbreak on Thursday, while Bosnia and South Africa confirmed their first cases.

Most deaths and infections are still in China, where the virus first emerged late last year, prompting the country to quarantine entire cities, temporarily shut factories and close schools indefinitely.

But infections are now rising faster abroad than inside China, with South Korea, with Iran and Italy emerging as hotspots.

The number of confirmed virus cases in Greece surged after 21 travelers recently returned from a bus trip to the “Israeli” entity and Egypt tested positive for the virus.

France also reported a stiff jump in cases, bringing its total to 377, and two additional deaths that edged the country total to six.

Several countries have implemented extraordinary measures, with UNESCO saying on Wednesday that school closures in more than a dozen countries have affected 290.5 million children.

India later announced it was closing all primary schools in the capital New Delhi until the end of March to prevent the virus from spreading.

The orders came as an India-EU summit scheduled for March 13 was also postponed.

While temporary school closures during crises are not new, UNESCO chief Audrey Azoulay said "the global scale and speed of the current educational disruption is unparalleled and, if prolonged, could threaten the right to education".

Italy has ordered schools and universities shut until March 15, and on Thursday reported a sharp rise in coronavirus deaths, bringing the total to 148.

South Korea – second only to China in terms of infections with cases jumping past 6,000 on Thursday – has postponed the start of the next term until March 23, while in Japan nearly all schools are closed until early April.

Schools have also shut in Iran, where 107 people have died from the disease.