Puglia Health Chief Pierluigi Lopalco said Thursday that the reopening of Italy's schools in September has had a role in the recent upswing in COVID-19 contagion after the southern region's controversial decision to close its schools.
On Wednesday Puglia Governor Michele Emiliano signed an order closing the region's schools from this Friday until November 24.
"We cannot say that classes are the main source of contagion," Lopalco told Radio Capital.
"But schools play a role in transmission".
Agriculture Minister Teresa Bellanova, a Puglia native, said Premier Giuseppe Conte's government should challenge the decision to have it reversed.
"Closing the schools is a enormous disaster," Bellanova told Radio 24.
"It should cause the veins on your wrist to shake.
"Puglia's decision is atrocious.
"I think the government should challenge this decision".
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