Honduras orders two-week school closure over coronavirus

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – The Honduran government said on Thursday that all schools, both public and private, would close for two weeks from Friday to contain the coronavirus, after the country’s National Autonomous University suspended classes indefinitely.

Other Latin American countries, including El Salvador, Panama and Peru, have also taken measures to close schools temporarily.

Authorities at Honduras’ National Autonomous University, the largest university in the Central American country, with some 87,000 students, said they were working on a program for classes to continue virtually.

The Honduras Health Ministry confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in the country on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Gustavo Palencia; Writing by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Peter Cooney)