Cape Town – A second teacher has tested positive for Covid-19 at Hyde Park Primary School in Parkwood, Cape Town, just a few days after the school announced that another of its teachers had contracted the illness.
The school said the relevant authorities had been contacted and its premises were decontaminated on Wednesday.
According to a circular sent out by the school, the learners in the affected class were asked to return home and the school has appealed to parents and guardians to observe them over the next few days.
The school said if the learners do experience any symptoms of Covid-19, they will need to consult a doctor.
According to the school, the first teacher who contracted the virus had not been at school for the whole of last week. It vehemently denied that the teacher was infected on school premises.
Hyde Park Primary said the school was adhering to all safety measures and appealed to parents and guardians to send their children to school with face masks.
It further said that if any learner felt sick or unwell, they were to remain at home until they had fully recovered and visited a doctor.
Meanwhile, concerned teachers and parents staged a picket on the corner of Joe Marks Boulevard and Prince George Drive (M5) in Cape Town on Thursday morning in protest against what they see as the premature reopening of schools at the height of the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
In recent days, there have been growing calls for the school academic year to be suspended.
Learners in grades R, 1, 2, 3 and 6, 10 and 11 are expected to return to the classroom on Monday and grades 4 and 5 on August 3.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has issued a set of directions to provide clarity and guidance on a variety of matters affecting the basic education sector in the Covid-19 environment.
Minister Angie Motshekga said a school may be permitted to deviate from the phased return to school in respect of specific grades or dates, provided that such school complies with the minimum health, safety and physical distancing measures and requirements on Covid-19, referred to in section 5 of the DBE Standard Operating Procedures and the DBE.
African News Agency (ANA)