Kufre George
Schools across Uganda will close two weeks before the scheduled end of term after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils, including eight children who died.Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni said yesterday that the cabinet had taken the decision to close preschools, primary schools and secondary schools on November 25 because densely packed classrooms were making students highly vulnerable to infection.Students in Uganda are currently in their third and final term of the calendar year.On Saturday, the government extended a three-week lockdown on the neighbouring districts of Mubende and Kassanda, which have been the centre of the Ebola outbreak.The measures include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, a ban on personal travel, and the closure of markets, bars and churches.Since the outbreak was declared in Mubende on September 20, the disease has spread across the country, including to the capital, Kampala, but the president has said nationwide restrictions are not needed.According to government figures from Sunday, 135 people have been infected with Ebola and 53 have died.
