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Madrid to close all schools for 2 weeks after virus spike

Mar 9, 2020 | 1:24 PM

MADRID — All the Madrid region’s public schools, including kindergartens and high schools, are to close from Wednesday for two weeks following a sharp spike in coronavirus cases in and around the Spanish capital, Spain’s public broadcaster reported Monday.

TVE said that the measure would affect some 1.2 million students.

Madrid has registered more than half of the cases of the new virus in the country, with much of the contagion linked to nursing homes and health workers.

Earlier on Monday, authorities in northern Spain’s Basque Country also announced the closure of educational centres around the regional capital, Vitoria, where the second-worst cluster has been identified.