Concern mounts over Covid-19 cluster outbreaks at varsities
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has expressed his concern over Covid-19 cluster outbreaks at some of the country’s institutions of higher learning.
Nzimande has appealed to students, lecturers and all staff to remain vigilant and adhere to regulations after a report showed a small outbreak of new infections at the University of Pretoria.
ALSO READ: Some SAA workers not paid before Easter, Numsa demands Parliament’s intervention
"However, there are pockets of positive cases in other universities and TVET colleges.
“These cases have not yet classified as cluster outbreaks.
“55 students from the University of Pretoria have tested positive up until Wednesday.
"We are aggressively working on contact tracing with the help of the Department of Health and have tested and screened a large number of students and staff over the last few days.
"Higher Health is still screening and testing this week, for which results are still awaited. There is a probability that the number of positive cases may rise,” saysNzimande.
He says Higher Health, working with the institutions, the local DOH, the NICD and the NHLS has formulated Cluster Outbreak investigation teams.
