Denmark shuts schools and universities after surge in coronavirus cases

FILE PHOTO: Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen arrives for the second day of the European Union leaders summit in Brussels, Belgium, February 21, 2020. REUTERS/Reinhard Krause

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark will close all schools and universities and will start sending home all employees in the public sector with non-critical jobs in the coming days to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the prime minister said on Wednesday.

Denmark had 514 people diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Wednesday, rising 10-fold since Monday in what Health Minister Magnus Heunicke described as the "most dramatic increase seen in Europe".