A meeting of teachers of a primary school in Hanoi on February 3 morning. Photo: Thuy Nga (vietnamnet)

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Health to guide localities nationwide on school closures.

Schools across the country ranging from nursery to high schools have allowed their pupils to temporarily stay at home.

Localities can decide how long local schools should be closed based on the situation in their area.

The Hanoi Department of Education and Training announced on Sunday that nursery to vocational training schools would remain shut from February 3-10.

On the same day, the HCM City Department of Education and Training decided to shut down local schools for a week, starting from February 3 to 9.

By late Sunday afternoon, up to 70 out of 191 universities nationwide had permitted their students to stay at home until February 10 or even February 17.

Vietnam on Saturday declared an epidemic as the number of people infected with the 2019 novel coronavirus was increasing day by day.

Vietnam confirmed the eighth coronavirus case, with a 73-year-old American, two Chinese nationals, five Vietnamese citizens - four returning from Wuhan, and a female hotel receptionist who has caught the coronavirus infection from the two Chinese nationals presently quarantined in HCM City. Dtinews

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