A total of 146 pupils and employees of the Deccan Road Primary School in Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, were asked to isolate themselves after a teacher from this school tested positive for the coronavirus.
Rumen Maistry, chair of the school’s governing body, says the school is currently closed after the teacher’s results were received Tuesday night. “All the staff of the school have already been tested for the virus. The Department of Health has called on parents to watch their children for symptoms of the virus, ”says Maistry.
A total of 53 school employees have already been tested, while 93 pupils are in self-isolation.
However, Maistry says the pupils will only be tested once they show symptoms of the virus. “It is important that parents notify us immediately when their children show symptoms. We must then notify the department so that they can test the pupil at his or her home, ”he says.
The school is also in the process of being disinfected.
Maistry said the positive-tested teacher complied with all health measures. “She wore a mask and her fever was taken twice a day since she returned. However, she developed a fever on Monday night and then went to the doctor. She was not at school on Tuesday, ”he says.
The school will be closed for two weeks or until everyone’s tests are negative. “We are in constant contact with the provincial departments of health and education.”
Maistry says the impact of the positive test result will have a huge impact on the pupils of the school.