Uganda To Close Schools After Eight Children Die Of Ebola
Category: Africa News
Uganda will close schools nationwide later this month after 23 Ebola cases
were confirmed among pupils, including eight children who died, the country’s
first lady said on Tuesday.
Janet Museveni, who is also the
education minister, said there had been cases in five schools in the capital
Kampala, as well as the neighboring Wakiso district and Mubende, the epicenter
of the outbreak.
She said the cabinet had agreed to close
pre-primary, primary and secondary schools from November 25, two weeks before
the scheduled end of term.
READ: Uganda Confirms Ebola Outbreak
“Closing schools earlier will reduce areas of concentration where
children are in daily close contact with fellow children, teachers and other
staff who could potentially spread the virus,” said the minister and wife of
veteran President Yoweri Museveni.
On Saturday,
Uganda extended a three-week lockdown
on Mubende and neighboring Kassanda, the two central districts at the heart of
the outbreak which has claimed more than 50 lives.
The measures
include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, a ban on personal travel and the closure of
markets, bars and churches.
READ: Ebola: Uganda Announces Three Week Lockdown, Curfew In Two Areas
Since the outbreak was declared in Mubende on September 20, the disease has
spread across the East African nation, including to the capital Kampala.
But the president has said nationwide curbs were not needed.
According to government figures dated November 6, a total of 53
people have died of Ebola out of 135 cases.
READ: Nigeria At High Risk Of Ebola, NCDC Warns
The World Health Organization (WHO) last week said Uganda had registered
over 150 confirmed and probable cases, including 64 fatalities.
Uganda’s last recorded fatality from a previous Ebola outbreak was
in 2019.
The strain now circulating is known as the Sudan Ebola
virus, for which there is currently no vaccine, although there are several
candidate vaccines heading towards clinical trials.
READ: GRAPHIC PHOTO: Another Deadly Virus Surfaces - Marburg Haemorrhagic Fever (MHF)
Ebola is spread through bodily fluids, with common symptoms being fever,
vomiting, bleeding and diarrhea.
Outbreaks are difficult to
contain, especially in urban environments.
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