As the virus continues to spread across the country, schools are closing their doors in an effort to protect their students.

The new measures will close schools and universities, but not kindergartens, from Wednesday. “We may decide on additional emergency measures later on Tuesday. It is necessary to take active, exceptional measures at the start of an epidemic,” announced Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.

Forty people in the Czech Republic have been infected with the new coronavirus, so far.

From March 10th at 18:00, cultural and sporting events with more than 100 people have been banned.

The Ministry of Health confirmed two new coronavirus disease cases on Tuesday, which brings the total number of those infected to 40.

“The national specialized laboratory on Tuesday confirmed two new positive test results for coronavirus. In the first case, it was a 61-year-old woman who was in contact with a colleague who contracted COVID-19 after returning from Italy. In the second case, it is a 54-year-old man who was on holiday in Italy. Other than that, for the first time, a coronavirus case was detected in a person who had nothing to do with the countries where COVID-19 is widely spread. He is a Prague taxi driver. In total, 40 people are being treated in hospitals or at home,” Health Minister Adam Vojtech wrote on Twitter.

“We understand this will be very unpleasant for people, but we want to prevent, by all means, what happened in Italy from happening here,” added PM Babis.

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