SCHOOLS IN Northern Ireland are set to close until further notice from this Friday, 21 March, in an attempt to stem the spread of coronavirus.
The decision was announced yesterday in a joint statement from First Ministers Michelle O'Neill and Arlene Foster, following the news that 6 further cases of covid-19 had been confirmed in the north.
The Northern Ireland Executive had come under pressure to close schools in recent days, as the Republic of Ireland has closed its schools since 13 March and suspected cases of the virus had been detected in several schools across Northern Ireland.
During the press conference yesterday in which the news was confirmed, Ms Foster said that the Government were preparing measures to introduce remote learning so that students can continue to get an education. The Minister for Education, she said, wuld be making further announcements regarding these moves in the next few days.
Ms O'Neill welcomed the move to close schools, and said that while she would have liked the decision to have come earlier, "today is about accentuating the positiveness" that school were closing.
"I believe that's the right thing for our pupils."
Schools in Scotland, Wales and England will also be closing this Friday, although pupils whose parents are "key workers" in the fight against the virus will continue to attend to ease pressure on those parents to find childcare.
Northern Ireland currently has 68 confirmed cases of coronavirus.
One person has since died since the announcement was made.
