COVID-19: Nigeria to reopen all schools from Oct. 12

ANKARA (AA) – All schools across Nigeria will reopen from Oct. 12, the government announced on Friday.

At a news conference in the capital Abuja, Malam Adamu Adamu, the country’s education minister, said students of all classes will be returning to schools nationwide, local daily Nigerian Tribune reported.

He said the decision to reopen schools, which have been closed since March, has been taken after consultations with all stakeholders and the country’s COVID-19 task force.

Nigeria’s coronavirus case count stands at 59,001, including 1,112 deaths and 50,452 recoveries, according to latest official figures.

It is among the 10 worst-hit countries in Africa, where the total case count is now over 1.48 million, including more than 36,300 deaths.

However, on Thursday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said there has been a 13% decrease in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa over the past week.

In its latest report, WHO Africa said 84% of all patients on the continent have recovered.

“The African Region has continued to observe a levelling in both COVID-19 cases and deaths. We registered a 13% decrease in case incidence during the past seven days, with, however, a 7% increase in deaths for the same period,” read the report.

Across the world, COVID-19 has claimed more than 1.02 million lives in 188 countries and regions since last December.

Over 34.34 million cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 23.89 million, according to latest figures from the US’ Johns Hopkins University.