HONG KONG, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Schools in Hong Kong will remain closed until April 20 at the earliest due to the ongoing outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the education secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government said on Tuesday.

Primary and secondary schools, kindergartens and special schools across Hong Kong will not resume classes before April 20 in view of the latest situation of the COVID-19 epidemic, Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung said.

The exact date to resume classes is subject to further assessments, and the Education Bureau expects class resumption will occur in stages, he added.

This is the third time for Hong Kong to extend the class suspension of schools in the past month.

HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam raised the HKSAR government's response to the COVID-19 outbreak to the highest level on Jan. 25 with a series of measures, including delaying the opening date of schools after the Lunar New Year holiday from early February to Feb. 17.

On Jan. 31 and Feb. 13 respectively, the school suspension was extended twice.

The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Hong Kong rose to 79 on Monday, with two deaths, according to the Center for Health Protection (CHP) of the Hong Kong SAR government.