Northern Italian schools, universities to stay closed because of virus

ROME: Schools and universities will stay closed for a second consecutive week in three northern Italian regions in an effort to contain Europe's worst outbreak of coronavirus, the head of the Emilia Romagna region said on Saturday.

Stefano Bonaccini wrote on Facebook that besides his own region, educational centres in the neighbouring Lombardy and Veneto would remain shuttered on the advice of the government, dashing any hopes of a swift return to normality in Italy. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Alexander Smith)