Malawi: Cholera prevention guidelines for schools

Normal school calendar in the major cities of Malawi, Lilongwe and Blantyre were delayed for two weeks now, citing that the two cities were hot spot areas that could probably put many students at risk.

Government through the responsible ministries had put in place a taskforce to monitor the spread of the vice.

The Ministry of Education announced the resumption of classes in some areas on Tuesday and has set up a task force through the relevant ministries to monitor the spread of the virus. The U.N.'s children’s agency, UNICEF, has handed over lifesaving supplies worth about $300,000 to support Malawi’s fight against a cholera outbreak which has killed more than 700 people - including 104 children - since the outbreak began in March of last year. Statistics from the Public Health Institute of Malawi show that as of Thursday, the disease had killed 773 people, including 104 children, and resulted in 23,217 cholera cases since the outbreak started in March last year. The Malawi ministry of health says the fatality rate of the outbreak is now at 3.33%, much higher than the recommended 1% global threshold.