Coronavirus- Italy to close schools and universities as death toll rises

Italy has announced the closure off all schools and universities in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, as the death toll in the country rose to 79.

The government ordered classrooms across the country to shut until mid-March, Ansa news agency reported.

Schools and universities in the worst-affected regions of northern Italy, where a handful of towns have been quarantined, had already closed 10 days ago.

But the outbreak has since spread to infect more than 2,500 people