At least 1,957 teachers in the province had also reported comorbidities. The Department of Education's spokesperson, Elias Malindi, says these teachers requested to work from home fearing the infection. Malindi says the system for 2021, regarding the teachers' comorbidities and deaths, has not yet been updated owing to the delay of schools' reopening. The Basic Education Minister, Angie Mosthekga, previously announced that the public schools will officially open from February 15, but gave the green light to private schools to open two weeks earlier.

The Department earlier indicated that it concluded the marking of grade 12 examination papers on Thursday. The department commenced with marking the papers on 6 January amidst the second wave of Covid-19. The province had 2 626 markers in 17 of its marking centres under intense Covid-19 protocols.

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