Senegal postpones school restart after teachers test positive for COVID-19

Senegal has postponed the restart of schools until further notice after several teachers tested positive for the new coronavirus, the education ministry said late on Monday. Schools were scheduled to gradually resume on Tuesday, after weeks of shutdown due to the pandemic. Senegal has recorded 3,739 positive COVID-19 cases since the start of the outbreak, with 43 deaths.

An education ministry statement said teachers tested positive for coronavirus in Ziguinchor, in the Casamance area, south of the country. It said Senegal's President Macky Sall decided to "postpone the restart of classes until a later date, in order to avoid any risk of the virus spreading in schools."

The government began bussing teachers from the capital Dakar to schools in the other regions last week in preparation for schools to reopen. The ministry said in a separate statement that the bussing has been suspended until further notice.