Schools and universities in South Sudan are scheduled to re-open on Monday after nearly six months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision to re-open schools and universities was reached during a cabinet meeting on Friday chaired by President Salva Kiir.

Health Minister Elizabeth Acuei Yol told her colleagues that there was “a significant reduction in the number of infections that necessitated the re-opening of learning institutions in the country.”

The government closed all schools in March after coronavirus cases surged.

“It is welcome news, but it is going to involve huge logistics to prepare schools. Fumigation should be conducted prior to resumption of classes,” the health ministry spokesperson Thuou Loi told reporters in the capital, Juba, on Sunday.

The United Nations children’s agency, Unicef, and cultural agency, Unesco, had previously urged for re-opening of schools.