Malawian authorities have announced that students who were prevented from returning to school at the end of the Christmas break due to fears of an escalating cholera outbreak can now do so.
In Lilongwe, Health Minister Khumbize Chiponda announced that most schools are now prepared to deal with the cholera outbreak.
Malawi is dealing with a devastating outbreak of the water-borne disease, which has killed over 750 people so far.
To protect learners and students from contracting cholera, the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 and Cholera ordered that schools in the capital, Lilongwe, and the southern commercial city of Blantyre not open.
Education rights activists criticized the decision because it only targeted two cities, while schools in other areas, including some with a high number of cholera cases, were allowed to open.
Mr. Chiponda has now stated that the task force has been monitoring the situation for the past two weeks and is satisfied that water, handwashing facilities, and clean toilets are available in all schools, thus the decision to order their re-opening.
