The closure of these schools happened a week after 19 schools in the province delayed reopening due to fears of the spread of the virus.

The Zingisani Primary and Carnarvon High Schools in the Pixley Ka Seme District are amongst the schools that reopened on Wednesday - almost two weeks after more than 500 schools reopened on 8 June. The schools, however, had to close their doors due to confirmed cases.  

The Department of Education spokesperson, Lehuma Ntuane, confirms that Beacon Primary School in Kimberley has also been closed due to confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Ntuane says the department will only consider reopening these schools once it is satisfied with the results of contact tracing.

The department did not disclose as to how many learners have been infected by the virus. “We will await the announcement by the Department of Health to confirm these cases. We will only consider reopening these schools once we have satisfied ourselves with the results of the contact tracing,” he further says.

Ntuane adds that “the Department of Health will guide us in this regard, whilst these schools are disinfected. We commend the swift action by the Department of Health in the early detection of Covid-19 cases in schools and we will continue to strengthen our collaborative efforts against this invisible enemy”.
 
The department has praised measures put in place in case of a suspected Covid-19 case. It says: “It is clear that the systems and measures we have in place, acts as an early alert system to curb the spread of the coronavirus and our primary preventative measures in place at all schools are on par as we confront this global pandemic."
 
The department has further encouraged educators, parents and learners of the affected schools to stay calm and continue to practice good hygiene, as it attended to the suspected cases.
 
 

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