Hours into the New Year of 2023,authorities in Malawi have suspended Primary and Secondary schools opening in two major cities following a cholera outbreak that has so far killed 595 people.
Schools in the capital, Lilongwe, and the commercial hub, Blantyre, will remain closed for at least two more weeks after the Christmas holidays.
The cholera outbreak began in March 2022 but has become acute lately leaving nineteen people dead on New Year’s Eve
Cholera is contracted by eating food or drinking water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. It can affect children and adults, causing severe diarrhoea, and can kill within hours if left untreated.
The outbreak has spread to nearly all of Malawi’s 28 districts.
The Africa Centre for Disease Control says it is concerned about the rise in cholera deaths in Malawi, which it attributes to patients not getting treatment in time.
Monday’s announcement has angered some parents who say their children were already on their way to school, which had been due to reopen Tuesday.
Health Minister Khumbize Chiponda said the government regretted any inconvenience stressing that late advice was taken solely in the interest of the safety of school’s learners
She said school reopening will be delayed for at least two weeks, but further advice would be given.