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Reuters
Reuters
Health

Portugal shuts schools as COVID-19 cases, deaths soar

FILE PHOTO: Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa puts on his protective mask at the end of a news conference to announce new restrictions in the country amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, at Belem Palace in Lisbon, Portugal, January 18, 2021. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes

Portugal's schools and universities will close doors for at least 15 days, Prime Minister Antonio Costa said on Thursday as authorities scrambled to tackle the country's worst outbreak since the pandemic started.

"Despite the extraordinary effort of schools ... in the face of this new variant and the velocity of its transmission, we must exercise precaution and interrupt all school activities for the next 15 days," Costa said.

Costa was referring to the more contagious variant of the coronavirus discovered in Britain, which was spreading rapidly across Portugal.

(Reporting by Lisbon Bureau; Editing by Ingrid Melander)

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