Rustenburg - Schools in Malawi will remain closed for another two weeks due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation, the ministry of education said on Friday.
Schools were expected to reopen on February 8, after President Lazarus Chakwera ordered that all schools should be closed for three weeks on January 17.
He ordered that students in boarding schools should remain in their respective campuses until health authorities assessed the severity of infections in those schools to determine whether it was safe for those students to go home.
School opened on January 4 for the 2021 academic year but, Chakwera ordered an immediate closure after the country experienced a sharp increase of new Covid-19 infections, deaths and hospital admissions in January.
Education spokesperson Chikondano Mussa said in a statement that all students in boarding secondary schools as well as residential students in colleges and universities should be released to go back home for two weeks.
"Government further calls on all students, parents and guardians to continue observing all Covid-19 preventive measures even while at home."
Co-chairperson of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19, Dr John Phuka, said the country recorded 435 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, 450 new recoveries and 18 new deaths.
All new cases were locally transmitted.
Malawi has so far recorded 25,884 cases, 779 deaths and 10,264 recoveries.
He said data showed that the recoveries have surpassed the 10 000 mark indicating that a lot of people were recovering from the disease giving hope to the fight and also the positivity rate has been declining in the past three days.
Schools in South Africa were expected to reopen on February 15 after opening was delayed in January due to rising Covid-19 cases. Schools in the country were initially planned to open on January 26.
South Africa has recorded 1 466 767 cases, the highest in Africa, with 45 605 deaths and 1 327 186 recoveries.
African News Agency (ANA)