COVID-19 is ripping through educational institutions in the country with latest statistics showing that more than 150 learners and teachers at schools and colleges have tested positive.
Sunday News has gathered that 145 pupils and their teachers
in schools in Bulawayo, Harare and Matabeleland North have tested positive
while 10 cases have been reported at polytechnic colleges. John Tallach High
School in Ntabazinduna, Matabeleland North leads the pack with 140 pupils and
four teachers having tested positive resulting in the school being cordoned
off.
Wise Owl Primary in Harare has recorded three cases while
Emakhandeni Primary School in Bulawayo has recorded two cases. It is also
understood that six positive cases were recorded at Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo
Polytechnic in Gwanda and while four others were reported at Kwekwe Polytechnic
recently.
Director of Communications and Advocacy in the Ministry of
Primary and Secondary Education Mr Taungana Ndoro told Sunday News yesterday
that of the affected schools, John Tallach in Matabeleland North was the most
‘surprising’ looking at the figures.
“Only few schools out of 9 625 schools in Zimbabwe have
learners who tested positive for the virus which are John Tallach, Wise Owl (3)
and Emakhandeni Primary School (2). John Tallach is a unique case and we are
actually surprised as to what happened.
“The rest of the schools in the country are observing
Standard Operating Procedures to the book, go to places like Manicaland,
Masvingo and the Midlands there are no cases of Covid-19 in schools. Out of the
schools that have incidents of Covid-19, some cases really have nothing to do
with the schools mentioned, like a teacher at a school in Bulawayo who tested
positive for the virus but was actually not attending classes as she claimed
she was incapacitated, so it had nothing to do with learners, the school and
the education system,” he said.
Mr Ndoro said since the outbreak of Covid-19, schools in
the country have intensified precautions. He dismissed rumours that learners at
Prince Edward in Harare had been infected by the virus. He also dismissed death
rumours at John Tallach that were being spread on social media. Asked on the
way forward, Mr Ndoro said learners at John Tallach will be kept in the school
until further notice.
“Learners are asymptomatic and stable and are quarantined
in order to protect their family members because if you take these infected
students back to their homes it may become an explosion. A child belongs to a
family and going back there may see the family getting infected,” added Mr
Ndoro.
Matabeleland North Provincial Medical Director Dr Munekai
Padingani said the number of Covid-19 cases at John Tallach increased from the
initial 100 that were reported last week. He said learners were on the road to
recovery and were stable.
“In terms of cases, they are now 140 pupils and four
teachers that have been infected. They are put in cohorts, according to dates
they were tested and whether they are asymptomatic or not. Some are positive
without being sick and some are sick and are being treated on site,” he said.
Asked on outcomes of preliminary investigations at John
Tallach, Dr Padingani said it was difficult to single out a pupil who travelled
to South Africa for a funeral who is suspected to have brought the virus.
“It is difficult to answer because we have many cases
reported in Bulawayo and we have many students here who tested positive and
reside in Bulawayo so we cannot incriminate that one who went to South Africa.
We know that people move up and down so we cannot say it is that student. Investigations
are still going on and I cannot say much for now,” he said.
The spike in cases at schools comes when public
examinations are expected to start next week. However, Mr Ndoro said Government
has made sure there was adequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at schools
in the form of sanitisers, face masks and washing areas, saying that only a few
schools were affected as they had no water supply but Government has assisted
in rehabilitating boreholes in schools to ensure there is water in all of them.
Bulawayo has continued witnessing a spike in the number of
Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks jolting officials to consider
re-introducing a ‘specialised’ lockdown. Of the 74 new cases that the country
reported on Friday, 48 were from Bulawayo, according to the Ministry of Health
and Child Care statistics.
Bulawayo City Council Director of Health Services Dr Edwin
Sibanda said the province was testing people every day and hence the numbers
being reported while encouraging the public to be vigilant.
“Our cases in Bulawayo are more local transmission than
anything, but once in a while you may get an outsider coming in and infecting a
number of people,” he said.
He said a lockdown for Bulawayo was imminent if there was
no change of behaviour.
“A lockdown is okay on one side but we also have to worry
about its effects socially and economically but it might become necessary at
some point. We have no bigger message but to encourage people to stick to the
basics, ensure social distancing, use face masks, sanitise all the time and
avoid gatherings. If we stop moving around, the virus also stops moving
around,” he said.
National police spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul
Nyati said there was a shebeen and nightclub notoriety in Bulawayo.
“We are concerned, there was a person who lost his car
while coming out of a shebeen/brothel at around 3am. We have made arrests of
people operating brothels and shebeens. We will continue to make the arrests
but we want to send a warning to people who think they are now a law unto
themselves. They should not cry foul if stern measures are taken against them.
It is also sad that we have recorded some murder cases at some of these spots
and shebeens in Harare and Bulawayo and this is a fact,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sunday Mail reports that the Government will
today roll out a nationwide community-based Covid-19 testing study that will
accurately pinpoint coronavirus hotspots in order to inform the deployment of
tailor-made response strategies for specified communities, as part of a coterie
of measures to respond to a possible second wave of the pandemic.
Individuals in more than 7 000 households will be screened
for the virus in all 54 districts under the National Sero-Prevalence Survey for
Covid-19, which runs up to December 30. The National Institute of Health
Research (NIHR) will test nearly 4 600 individuals in rural households, while
the rest of the study samples will be drawn from urban communities.
NIHR director Professor Nicholas Midzi told our Harare
Bureau that only an individual will be tested per household. In Harare
Metropolitan province, 1250 people will be tested in 50 communities, while 975
individuals in Manicaland province will be screened in 32 rural communities and
seven urban areas. In the Midlands province, 850 people will be tested while
800 tests are set to be administered in Masvingo province. Over 400 individuals
will be tested in Bulawayo Metropolitan province, while Matabeleland North and
South will each have 375 tests. Mashonaland Central will have 625 people
screened, while a further 773 will be tested in Mashonaland East. In
Mashonaland West, 800 people will receive the test.
Chief Co-ordinator for the National Response to the
Covid-19 Pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva,
said a recent Government survey showed that most communities were no longer
adhering to standard Covid-19 preventative guidelines. Sunday News
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