Infections at schools raise concerns

Writer: Hedda Mittner.

A total of 185 staff members and 49 learners have tested positive for Covid-19 in the Western Cape since 18 May, and at least 20 schools had to be closed to be disinfected last week. This was confirmed on Monday by Bronagh Hammond of the Western Cape Education Department.

The department has stressed that cases had not spiked due to the reopening of schools and that most of these cases had been reported before the schools reopened. “The number of infected staff members also includes cases where those staff members have not yet returned to school,” said Hammond. “Therefore they were not infected on school premises. Most of these cases are a result of community transmission and not school transmission.”

In line with confidentiality clauses, the department has declined to name schools that are affected, but confirms that all schools have been provided with strict guidelines on the safety protocols that have to be followed whenever an employee or learner tests positive or is exposed to someone who has tested positive. If there has been a confirmed case of Covid-19, the school is required to contact the district and also to inform the parents of the school and their employees.

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