"The news of educational institutions closing on March 15 are baseless," the minister said.
"The coronavirus situation in the province is under control. We had reopened educational institutions on February 1 after consultations in the steering committee — and even then, the attendance was restricted to 50%."
The appointment comes after Martha Barcena said earlier this week that she had decided to retire early and leave her post in the coming months after 43 years in foreign policy.