Image: EU2017EE Estonian Presidency [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
Blanket closures of educational institutions come into effect this week
The Danish and Irish governments have announced nationwide closures of education institutions in response to the spread of the coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease Covid-19.
Closures were announced on 11 and 12 March respectively by the Danish and Irish governments, with both countries’ measures coming into effect on 13 March.
Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar (pictured) said that the measures applied to schools and colleges until 29 March and that “where possible, teaching will be done online or remotely”.
The Danish measures apply to all public educational institutions and the government advised private institutions to take similar action. It also asked all public servants “that do not perform critical functions” to go home for the next two weeks.
Universities have already been closed to teaching in Austria and Italy.