Uganda will close schools across the country later this month after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among students, including eight deaths, the country's first lady announced on Tuesday.

The education minister, Janet Museveni, said cases had been reported in five schools in Kampala, as well as the neighboring Wakiso district and Mubende, the outbreak's epicenter.

She stated that the cabinet had agreed to close pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools on November 25, just two weeks before the school year ended.

"Closing schools earlier will reduce areas of concentration where children are in daily close contact with fellow children, teachers, and other staff who could potentially spread the virus," said Museveni's wife, a minister.

On Saturday, Uganda extended a three-week lockdown on Mubende and neighboring Kassanda, the two central districts at the epicenter of the outbreak that has claimed over 50 lives.

A curfew from dusk to dawn, a ban on personal travel, and the closure of markets, bars, and churches are among the measures.

Since the disease was declared an outbreak in Mubende on September 20, it has spread throughout the East African country, including to the capital, Kampala.

The president, on the other hand, has stated that nationwide restrictions are not required.

According to November 6 government data, 53 people died from Ebola out of 135 cases.

Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that Uganda had more than 150 confirmed and probable cases, with 64 deaths.

The last Ebola fatality in Uganda was in 2019.

The current strain is known as the Sudan Ebola virus, and no vaccine is currently available, though several candidate vaccines are being tested in clinical trials.

Ebola is transmitted through bodily fluids, and symptoms include fever, vomiting, bleeding, and diarrhoea.

Outbreaks are difficult to contain, particularly in urban areas.