British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that England would shut down schools during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Looking at where we are now, we think now that we must apply further downward pressure on that upward curve by closing the schools,” Johnson said during a Wednesday news conference about the COVID-19 virus outbreak.
“So, I can announce today … that after schools shut their gates from Friday afternoon, they will remain closed for the vast majority of pupils until further notice,” he said.
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The announcement comes after Scotland and Wales also announced that schools there would close on Friday. Schools and colleges in Ireland have been shuttered while some schools in Northern Ireland remain open.
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said schools there could remain closed through the end of the school year.
In the United Kingdom, there have been 2,626 cases of the coronavirus, 65 recoveries, and 71 deaths, according to the latest reading by the Johns Hopkins University tracker. Worldwide, there have been at least 211,853 cases of the coronavirus, about 83,000 recoveries, and at least 8,724 deaths.
