Ugandan authorities have ordered the closure of all schools in the country as of November 25 due to the spread of the Ebola outbreak, which has so far left 132 cases and 51 deaths, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Ugandan Ministry of Education has indicated that the measure affects pre-school, primary and secondary schools in the country, bringing forward a vacation closure that was scheduled for December 6.
«We have decided to shorten the vacation starting period by two weeks to deal with the spread of the virus among students and staff,» explained the portfolio holder, Joyce Kaducu, following the death of eight pupils in recent days.
Kaducu stressed that, once it is over, «children will have to return immediately and safely to their homes», while schools have begun to notify the advancement of the end of term exams in view of the implementation of the measure, as reported by the Ugandan newspaper ‘Daily Monitor’.
Uganda declared the Ebola outbreak on September 20 after confirming the death of a patient who tested positive, after which the WHO said the confirmation followed an investigation by the national rapid response team after six «suspicious deaths» in the district over the past month.
The international agency stressed that the outbreak corresponds to the Zaire strain. To date, seven outbreaks of this strain — four in Uganda and three in Sudan — have been detected. Uganda reported its last case of this strain in 2012, while in 2019 it declared an outbreak for the Zaire strain, imported from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
