Czechs to close schools as central Europe widens virus fight

Prague: The Czech Republic said Tuesday it will close all schools, while neighbouring Poland banned all mass events and tightened border controls in a bid to stem the spread of the deadly new coronavirus.

"It is better to be proactive, rather than to deal with the problem later, or even too late as is the case in Italy," Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters in Prague. Elementary and secondary schools will be closed from Wednesday until further notice, Babis said, also imposing a ban on all events over 100 people in the EU country of 10.6 million people.

Prague reported 40 cases of coronavirus as of Tuesday, while its larger northern neighbour Poland, which has a population of 38 million, put its tally of infected people at 18. Poland also banned mass events and expanded existing health checks on the German and Czech borders to also cover Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania.