Kassala — Today, studies resumed in Kassala in eastern Sudan after a four-week closure due to the spread of cholera.

The Kassala Ministry of Education in end August decided to close all schools on September 1, as cholera was ravaging households in the entire state.

Maher Hussein, director of the Education Ministry, announced on Kassala TV yesterday that the decision to resume studies 'at all levels of education' includes all state localities.

Two weeks ago, he ordered the evacuation of more than 22 out of 193 schools that were being used as shelters for the many displaced in Kassala in preparation for the re-opening of the schools.

Last week, the Kassala authorities reported that over 100,000 displaced people are living in 292 shelters across the state.

'Decrease'

The director of the Kassala Ministry of Health, Ali Adam, last weekend announced that the number of cholera cases had decreased in the state. Kassala locality recorded the highest number of infections, followed by West Kassala, Khashm El Girba, and New Halfa.

The Health Ministry reported yesterday that the cumulative number of cholera cases in Kassala reached 5,728 on Friday, including 178 deaths.

According to the latest report issued by the federal Health Ministry in Port Sudan on Thursday, the cumulative number of cholera cases in 10 states has risen to 15,577, including 506 deaths.

The more than 17-month-old war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has damaged and destroyed a large part of the infrastructure in Sudan. This has led to severe hunger in many parts of the country and the spread of diseases such as cholera.

On Tuesday, the authorities in Ed Debba, Northern State, ordered the immediate closure of schools and markets in the locality in a bid to prevent the epidemic from spiralling further out of control.

The federal Ministry of Health considers the places controlled by the RSF 'unreachable' and neither provides medical aid nor financial support to the health ministries in these areas.