Zambian schools shut for three more weeks due to cholera

Children across Zambia will return to school three weeks late from their festive holidays due to a cholera outbreak.

Both primary and secondary students were meant to return next Monday but will now resume on 29 January, the Education Ministry said on Thursday.

On Sunday, Zambia's Ministry of Health said 3,015 cholera cases and 98 deaths had been recorded since October 2023.

It had previously warned that the outbreak was threatening the country's "health security".

Zambia's education minister has "directed that during the prolonged closure, all learning institutions should be thoroughly cleaned up, have clean water and sanitation facilities, adequate hand washing points and disinfectants", his department said.