Lisbon, Jan. 21, 2021, SPA -- 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, according to Reuters. "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. --SPA 19:14 LOCAL TIME 16:14 GMT 0022 www.spa.gov.sa/w1488581