Coronavirus - Over 25 countries announce school closures, more than 300 million kids affected

The Coronavirus outbreak is hitting industries, economies across the globe. With more and more people choosing to stay home in the wake of the virus scare and primary education institutes temporarily discontinuing classes for children indefinitely, UN estimates nearly 300 million children to have been affected.

Over 25 countries have announced or implemented some form of school closures in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak

14 countries have mandated nationwide closure of schools, impacting around 290 million school-going kids who would normally attend pre-primary to upper-secondary classes.

As per the latest UN figures, more than countries have some sort of localised school closures in place. Should these nations also decide to mandate a nationwide closure of schools, the move is estimated to affect another 180 million school-going kids.

The countries that have nationwide closure of schools in place include China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mongolia, Georgia, Bahrain, Armenia, Azerbaijan, the UAE and Republic of Korea.

India is among those countries that have localised closure of schools in place. Other such nations include Afghanistan, Bhutan, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Pakistan, Palestine, Ukraine, the UK, the United States and Vietnam

Of the total 291,550,056 school kids that are being affected due to school closures across the globe, a whopping 233,169,621 are in China.