Italy stops handshakes in schools

There are many ways to say hello in Italian. But many Italians would argue there’s no way to do it properly without a kiss and a hug.

Thanks to the coronavirus, Italians must figure out how to do precisely that, given newly-adopted nationwide government recommendations against the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“Avoid handshakes, kisses, hugs: these are precautions we must adopt to try to avoid contagion,” Civil Protection Agency chief Angelo Borrelli said in a Wednesday press conference.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte formalized the advice in a crisis decree – which tackled personal contact among other topics – following consultations with government science advisors.

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It contained harsher restrictions, and came after Borrelli announced a new jump in contagions, with 3,089 positive cases and 107 deaths, representing a mortality rate of about 3.5 per cent.

All of Italy’s schools were closed from Thursday until March 15 to contain the spread of the new coronavirus, as anticipated earlier in the day by Education Minister Lucia Azzolina.

The decision affected 7.6 million school students and 1.7 million university students. Some schools arranged for remote video lessons, while many working parents were left struggling with childcare.

Furthermore, the decree ordered all sporting events in the country to be held without spectators until March 15, affecting football and rugby matches as well as the alpine skiing World Cup.

All indoor public spaces – such as cinemas, theatres and gyms – were closed until April 3, unless people there can be kept at a minimum distance of one metre.

The decree advised the elderly and the infirm to avoid going out “unless strictly necessary” and “anyway avoid” public spaces, and also limited visits to hospitals.

Italy is battling against the biggest coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

Its officials were considering extending lockdown measures, currently valid for 11 municipalities in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto, to more virus-affected communities.

Industry Minister Stefano Patuanelli was reported to be in self-isolation until March 9 for having come into contact with a Lombardy regional minister who has the virus.

Patuanelli himself has tested negative, the ANSA news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Piacenza Mayor Patrizia Barbieri, who leads a town of 100,000 near Lombardy’s virus cluster, wrote on Facebook that she has tested positive to the virus.

Authorities had warned that this week was going to determine whether the first containment measures introduced on February 23 are working, or if tougher action was needed.

“We are ready to review our actions depending on the scenarios that we will up against, aiming for more strictness or even, we hope, less,” Borrelli said Tuesday.

The new coronavirus jumped from an unknown animal species to the human population in China’s city of Wuhan at some point in December, and has since spread globally.

France confirmed another 45 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to date to 257, of whom four have died.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he discussed the epidemic with his US counterpart Donald Trump and they promised to coordinate their scientific and economic responses.

Britain reported its biggest daily increase of 34 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, taking its total to 85 confirmed infections, of nearly 17,000 people tested.

Poland’s sole coronavirus patient was said to have entered the country on a bus which previously stopped if five German cities: Bonn, Dusseldorf, Essen, Hamm and Bielefeld, PAP agency reported.

More than 300 people in Poland were quarantined and around 70 people suspected of having caught the virus were hospitalized. The Health Ministry said the numbers were subject to change.

In the Nordic region, the number of reported coronavirus cases was 15 in Denmark, seven in Finland, 16 in Iceland, 56 in Norway and 52 in Sweden. (dpa)