Schools Reopen In Liberia, But Ebola Concerns Remain

Students in Liberia began returning to the classroom Monday after a
six-month closure during the Ebola epidemic that left thousands dead,
lining up in their uniforms to have their temperatures taken before
they could enter school gates.

Pupils who trickled in to Saint Michael High School on the outskirts
of the capital also washed their hands with chlorinated water before
going inside.

"I feel happy to come to school today because for so long I have not
seen my friends," Albert Kollie, 18, told The Associated Press."I am
very happy to be counted among the living and I pray that Ebola be
eradicated from this country."

Many students said they had grown tired of sitting at home, and at
least one principal said teenage pregnancy had spiked during the
six-month school gap. A few, though, remained a bit fearful about
returning even though there are just a handful of Ebola cases left in
the country that once saw 100 new patients a week.

"We will be afraid to touch each other in class, some colleagues will
be afraid to come around," high school junior Eric Blackie said."But
we cannot just be sitting home."

Liberia has seen the highest death toll from the Ebola epidemic, with
3,800 killed. In neighboring Guinea where the outbreak began, schools
already have reopened though many fearful parents have kept their
children home. In Sierra Leone, where disease transmission is now the
highest, officials hope to reopen schools by the end of March.

Deputy Education Minister Remses Kumbuyah said more than 5,000 kits
were distributed to schools that included thermometers and chlorine
for hand-washing.

"We are asking all the school administrators to ensure that a
classroom should not have more than 45 or 50 students."

Overcrowding is a major problem in Liberia's schools, where as many as
100 pupils may be in a single classroom. Since Ebola is spread through
direct contact with bodily fluids, administrators want to minimize the
potential spread. Health officials have warned that a single new case
could trigger a whole new cluster of infections.

Nearly 9,200 people have died since the first Ebola deaths in rural
Guinea in December 2013. The disease ravaged through Liberia, Guinea
and Sierra Leone -- all countries with weak health systems that were
ill-prepared for such an epidemic.

In Sierra Leone on Monday, the government promised a full
investigation after an internal audit found that nearly one-third of
the money it received to fight Ebola was used without saving the
necessary receipts and invoices to justify the spending.
--AP