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Schools in Liberia Reopen After a Six-Month Closure Due to Ebola

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Liberia Ebola West Africa
Liberian school children wash their hands before entering their classrooms as part of the Ebola prevention measures at Cathedral High School as students arrive in the morning to attend class in Monrovia, Liberia, Feb. 16, 2015.Abbas Dulleh—AP
By Helen Regan

After a six-month closure due to the Ebola epidemic, many schools in Liberia reopened their classroom doors on Monday.

Before lessons began, pupils lined up to wash their hands in chlorinated water while teachers took their temperatures as part of new safety measures, reports the BBC.

Though students were excited to get back to school, some were worried that the virus had not been completely eradicated.

Liberia was one of the worst affected countries by Ebola with at least 3,800 people killed. However, there has been a general decline of the deadly disease in recent weeks.

According to the World Health Organization, only three new confirmed cases were reported in Liberia in the week leading to Feb. 8.

The reopening of schools comes a day after leaders of the three worst affected West African states — Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone — vowed to achieve “zero Ebola infections within 60 days,” during a meeting in the latter on Sunday.

[BBC]

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Write to Helen Regan at helen.regan@timeasia.com