Ireland shuts schools and colleges on coronavirus pandemic fears
Ireland said today it was closing schools, colleges and public offices due to worries over the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking in Washington D.C., Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the new tough measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.
Varadkar said from 6pm today, all schools, childcare facilities, colleges and public offices would be shut.
He said outdoor gatherings of more than 500 people and indoor gatherings of more than 100 people should be cancelled.
Varadkar also called for businesses to allow staff to work from home where possible and to carry out business meetings online.
Yesterday, Ireland’s Health Ministry confirmed its first death of a patient diagnosed with the coronavirus as the number of confirmed cases of the virus rose to 43 from 34 a day earlier.
Last night US President Donald Trump instituted a travel ban on all Schengen area EU countries, exempting the UK and Ireland.
Today, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is chairing a meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee to make a decision on the UK’s next stage of response to coronavirus.
He is expected to announce that the UK is moving from the so-called contain stage of fighting the virus, to the so-called delay stage.
Under the delay stage, the government may call for more stringent measures, such as the closure of schools.
Yesterday, the World Health Organisation declared that the coronavirus outbreak was a global pandemic.
“We have…made the assessment that Covid-19 can be characterised as a pandemic,” Who director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press briefing yesterday.
Ghebreyesus said the decision had been taken to upgrade the outbreak of the new virus to a pandemic because of its swift spread and severity.
“Who has been assessing this outbreak around the clock and we are deeply concerned both by the alarming levels of spread and severity, and by the alarming levels of inaction,” he said.
“We have called every day for countries to take urgent and aggressive action,” he said.
“We have rung the alarm bell loud and clear.”