Coronavirus outbreak: Hong Kong schools to remain shut till April

Hong Kong health officials announced on February 25, that due to the coronavirus outbreak, schools in Hong Kong will remain shut until Easter. According to reports, schools in Hong Kong have already been shut for over three weeks. Even though schools are to remain shut, university entrance exams are scheduled to go ahead.

'Safest' course of action

Secretary of Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung has reportedly said that classes at kindergarten, primary and secondary schools would be suspended till April 20. And even after resuming school, classes will be held in phases. Yeung Yun-hung claimed that the WHO has indicated that the virus and the threat posed by the virus would last for a longer period than expected and therefore the suspension of classes was the best and safest option.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: San Francisco Declares Emergency Over Deadly Epidemic

Yeung Yun-hung further added that children in kindergarten, primary and secondary classes interact with each other a lot during classes and this increases the chance of possible infection. In regards to why the university entrance exams were allowed to go as scheduled, Yeung Yun-hung reportedly claimed that only around 50,000 candidates will give the exam and will not interact with each other.

The deadly coronavirus that has been officially named COVID-19 by WHO first surfaced in China's Hubei province and has already infected more than 80,000 people worldwide.

Read: Coronavirus Outbreak: Donald Trump Lauds US Officials For Not Having Even 'one Death'

San Francisco declares emergency

The city of San Francisco has declared a state of emergency over the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Recently, health officials in the United States warned that the spread of coronavirus across the United States was highly likely as per reports. The emergency was declared by the city's mayor, London Breed, on February 25.

According to reports, Breed said that the virus has been spreading rapidly to new parts of the world and that steps were absolutely necessary in order to protect San Franciscans from harm. She added that in light of the rapidly changing situation surrounding the COVID-19 outbreak, there needed to be an increase in the level of preparedness.

Read: China Coronavirus: Death Toll Climbs To Over 2,700 Amidst Signs Of Slowdown

Read: Iran Minister Coughs, Wipes Sweat Amid Coronavirus Briefing, Hours Prior To His Diagnosis