Italy is shutting all schools and universities in an effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Italian authorities say 107 people have died and 3,089 have been infected, making it by some distance the worst-affected European nation.

Only schools in the north of the country, where the coronavirus outbreak is centred, had closed so far, but the wider shutdown will last until 15 March.

Image: Giuseppe Conte and education minister Lucia Azzolina announced the closure plan

Announcing the move, Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the country's health service risked being overwhelmed.

All sports events will also be played behind closed doors until 3 April, including Serie A football and Italy v England in the Six Nations rugby.


The outbreak is currently centred on the Lombardy region around Milan, and neighbouring regions of Veneto and Emilia Romagna.

Authorities are now planning to extend the quarantine "red zone" to some municipalities in the Bergamo area.

Museums, cinemas and other public places have closed and many events such as fashion shows and trade fairs have been cancelled.

While the north has most cases, nearly all regions of Italy have been affected.

Image: A nurse takes the temperature of a woman in Cremona, northern Italy

Italy's educational shutdown comes as countries such as Poland, Hungary, Ukraine and Morocco reported their first cases of the virus.

Italy's national health institute has told people to remain at least a metre apart, stop hugging each other and avoid crowded places.

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Italy's weak economic growth is likely to suffer significantly - particularly the huge tourist sector as holidaymakers pull the plug and airlines cut flights.

An exhibition of the Renaissance artist Raphael, which has sold nearly 70,000 tickets, is also threatened.

Organisers in Rome said they are "keeping our fingers crossed and praying it can go ahead as planned" on Thursday.

Other developments include:

Bond premiere pushed back seven months

Olympics going ahead as planned in July, say organisers

Ireland reports four new cases, taking total to six

US infections top 130, deaths climb to 11; LA County declares emergency

France cases increase from 212 to 285

Saudi Arabia extends ban on visiting Mecca to its own citizens

Six more people on cancelled UAE cycling tour test positive

Sweden cases up to 52 after 16 new cases in Stockholm

Israel PM tells people to end handshakes and adopt Indian "namaste" greeting

Slovenia has reported its first case

Sky's science correspondent Thomas Moore said there is suspicion the number of cases reported in Italy does not reflect the true scale.

He said researchers from Imperial College London had found the real number could be between 50,000 and 100,000 - but many have mild symptoms so they don't realise they have the virus.

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Officially, more than 93,000 have been diagnosed worldwide and over 3,100 people have died - the vast majority in China.

However, the daily number of new cases there continues to trend downwards, with just 119 in its latest figures.

The second worst-affected country is South Korea, which reported 142 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to more than 5,300.

Iran is also badly affected with more than 3,000 cases and 92 deaths, according to its health ministry. Twenty-three members of parliament are also said to have contracted the virus.

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In the UK, Wednesday saw the biggest jump so far in daily cases as 36 new cases were identified - making 87 in all. Ireland recorded four new cases, taking the total to six.

America now has more than 130 cases, with Los Angeles County declaring a local state of emergency on Wednesday after six new infections.

Ten people have died in Washington state, up one from Tuesday, and the first person also died in California.

Six people have the virus in New York state after an infected man's family - as well as his neighbour who drove him to hospital - all tested positive.

About 1,000 people in the suburb of Westchester County where the family lives were under self-quarantine as a precaution, said New York governor Andrew Cuomo.

Globally, about 3.4% of infected people have died from the virus, according to latest estimates from the World Health Organization.