The Head of the Department of Internal Medicine at 3 Military Hospital in Bloemfontein, Cloete van Vuuren, spoke to OFM News on the matter following the announcement that an 18-year-old Grey College learner had tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. 

Van Vuuren says there is no need for shock or irrational panic for a plethora of reasons. The first being that when children do contract the virus, research reveals that they only develop a mild form of the disease. This is because the risk factors that lean towards the severe form of the illness are old age, diabetes - type two specifically - hypertension and obesity.

“All in all the risk for children is infinitely small. The reason why schools were closed initially is that children have three times more contact with other people as opposed to adults at work.” He says the only purpose closing schools was to retard the spread of the coronavirus so that the country’s healthcare system is not overburdened. Government did not shut down schools to completely prevent learners from contracting it, making the Grey College matter unsurprising, explains Van Vuuren. He says what is, in fact, surprising, is people’s reaction to the incident.

The infectious disease lecturer at the University of the Free State (UFS) commends the school for getting on top of the situation and quarantining 19 pupils at the hostel where the learner is staying, as well as teachers who have come into contact with the learner. He accurately deduced that the learner must have been a hostel learner from outside Bloemfontein, explaining that “it takes about 4-5 days for an infected person to develop symptoms, implying the learner was infected before schools reopened. He brought it from home, he didn’t get it from school”. Van Vuuren says the measures in place to curb the spread of the virus in schools are in fact quite effective. 

“A recent study looking at social distancing reveals if you’re in close proximity to a person, chances of contracting COVID-19 are 15% over a period of 15 minutes. If you practice social distancing, this falls to 3%”. He says if you wear a mask, but do not practice social distancing, the chances fall to 4%. He says the risk of contracting the virus becomes small when you implement all the measures together like schools have; washing hands, using masks and practicing social distancing.

Meanwhile, Grey College has dismissed rumours a second learner has been infected and that the whole school is under quarantine. Classes will resume as normal at the school.

OFM News