Poland shuts schools, theatres for two weeks

Poland's prime minister on Wednesday said the government has decided to close down all educational and cultural facilities for two weeks to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has infected 25 people in the EU member to date.

"The fight against the spread of the virus is a priority for us," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters.

He said all schools, nurseries, universities, theatres, cinemas, museums and operas will be closed from March 12 to 25, although parents will still be able to leave their children at school on Thursday and Friday in order to get organised for the rest of the time.

"To those who will not be going to school and university: this isn't a vacation, it's not time off. It's a public quarantine," Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski told reporters at the same press conference.

"We should spend this time at home, isolated, trying not to contaminate others... Let's be responsible, let's try to be reasonable and spend this time at home," he added.

Poland had earlier already banned mass gatherings and expanded health checks to include all of its borders: with Germany, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.