Bomb alert emails hit 3,800 Italian schools as the government tells principals not to evacuate.Hoax bomb threats sent by email reached an estimated 3,788 schools across Italy on Thursday, but only 77 were evacuated, the prime minister’s office said, a sharp drop from the disruption of the previous day.  The identical emails, signed by a sender calling himself “Mikhail Andropov”, followed a first wave on Wednesday that forced evacuations in many parts of the country.   Thursday’s messages reportedly went to around 1,800 schools in the first wave of the morning, this time from various addresses with Philippine domains. Milan prosecutors said IP addresses were traced to the Philippines, Taiwan and Australia.   A fake threat demanding prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s resignation was also sent to Palazzo Chigi. Officials said no checks were launched because it was clearly a repeat of an unfounded alarm. A similar email reached Rome’s surveillance court, which was not evacuated. Government response Meloni described the threats as not concrete. She said the interior and education ministries had told prefects and school heads not to evacuate or close schools, though some principals had already acted before the instruction arrived.   Palazzo Chigi said that in 36 of the evacuated schools lessons resumed the same morning, and that the fall in evacuations showed the guidance had worked.   A technical meeting of the Committee for the Security of the Republic (CISR), attended by undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and ministers Matteo Piantedosi and Giuseppe Valditara, aimed to stop “unfounded threats blocking essential services”.   Under the protocol, mass emails alone are not grounds for evacuation unless there is specific evidence of danger, although prefects may order one. The government said it was ready to report to parliament. Deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini dismissed the “improbable” Andropov and called the closure of some schools “unthinkable”. Senate speaker Ignazio La Russa said Italy was in a “hybrid war” aimed at spreading fear, and that countering it would take resources. Opposition Meloni met opposition leaders at Palazzo Chigi on Thursday morning for about two hours, appealing for unity. Centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) leader Elly Schlein offered cooperation but “no blank cheques”, and urged more funding for cybersecurity.   Giuseppe Conte of the Movimento 5 Stelle said the government must propose protocols, as principals should not be left to decide case by case. Matteo Renzi, leader of the centrist Italia Viva, claimed that a good antivirus would have sufficed. Principals and prosecutors Attilio Fontana, the governor of the northern Lombardia region around Milan, said principals cannot be forced to keep pupils in school if they feel unsafe. Principals have called for a filter for such emails.   Rome’s anti-terror prosecutors are investigating for causing false alarm and aggravated threats, against persons unknown, while Milan has opened a similar inquiry.   Photo credit: Massimo Todaro / Shutterstock.com