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A school official takes a pupil’s
temperature using an infrared digital laser thermometer in front of the school
premises, at the resumption of private schools, in Lagos in this September 22,
2014 file photo. REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye
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Liberia said on
Friday it would delay reopening schools for two weeks in order to better
prepare safety measures against the Ebola virus, which has killed more than
3,650 people in the country but now appears to be receding.
Media reports disclose Liberian
schools, shut since August due to the outbreak, had initially been scheduled to
reopen on Feb. 2, but the education ministry said it had pushed back that date
to allow parents and students more time to prepare.
A ministry
statement said it wanted to "raise awareness about safety protocols,
logistics and training requirements", adding: "Actual teaching will
begin on Monday, Feb. 16, 2015."
Some Liberian
opposition parties and members of parliament had called for the reopening date
to be moved to March 2, concerned that the Ebola epidemic is not yet fully
under control.
Liberia and its
neighbours Sierra Leone and Guinea have been hardest hit in the worst outbreak
of the viral haemorrhagic fever on record.
The epidemic
has killed 8,810 people in total out of 22,092 cases, mostly in the three
countries, since it was first identified early last year.
The number of
Ebola infections and deaths has fallen sharply in Liberia and Sierra Leone in
the past few weeks, with just 20 deaths recorded in Liberia in the 21 days to
Jan. 25, according to the World Health Organization, raising hopes that the
disease is gradually being brought under control.
Guinea reopened schools earlier this month,
while Sierra Leone plans to reopen its schools in March.
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