Provincial Education Department spokesperson, Howard Ndaba, tells OFM News the COVID-19 positive educator in question, teaches grade three learners at the school, who according to the current schedule that guides the phased reopening of schools in the country, are yet to officially return to school. The grade three educator was briefly on the school premises last week, to prepare for classes, which were expected to resume only next month. She however, fell ill and underwent testing for the novel coronavirus.

According to Ndaba, the educator’s results returned positive on Sunday. It was thereafter determined that during her time on the school premises, she had come into contact with only six other educators at the school. Ndaba says they have in turn each been tested and are now in quarantine until their results come back. In the interim, the specific area where the teacher was based, has been decontaminated and cleaned. The department therefore does not see any reason as to why the entire school should be closed down, especially when the educator in question did not engage with any students.

Credence Primary School is located in the epicentre of the pandemic in the province. The Free State Health Department confirms nearly 4000 of the overall COVID-19 cases in the Free State can be found in the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality alone. The metro includes the densely populated areas of Bloemfontein and Botshabelo, as well as Thaba’ Nchu, Dewetsdorp and Wepener.

As the number of positive cases in schools countrywide continue to surge, citizens now anxiously await an announcement by Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, on whether schools will remain open for learning, despite the peak of the coronavirus pandemic being upon us. 

The OFM News team reported that elsewhere in Central South Africa, 84 schools in the Northern Cape alone have been forced to close due to coronavirus cases since June. The Northern Cape Education Department has revealed openly that 69 teachers and 46 learners had tested positive thus far.

The OFM News team has managed to report on isolated cases of COVID-19 in Free State schools but are yet to get an overall picture of what the situation looks like as a whole. Motshekga has been in consultation with the relevant stakeholders, on whether schools will remain open or close temporarily since last week. With teachers unions and citizens on social media bemoaning the now deafening silence emanating from Motshekga’s office with regards to the way forward for schools. The Basic Education Minister was expected to make an announcement over the weekend, and then again on Monday - to no avail.

OFM News