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Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, said that the country's schools would “become the bushfires for community transmission” of the Covid19 virus.
She was addressing a virtual session of the National Council of Provinces on Thursday.
Motshekga said that in terms of the epidemiology of COVID-19, it was unlikely that the cases picked up at schools across the country since reopening on 8 June, originated from those facilities.
“These were classic community transmission case” and warned that “schools must prepare for the eventuality of the community transmissions becoming the bushfires in schools.”
“It’s not a matter of if, but when,” she said.
She also assured the NCOP that the decision to reopen our schools was not taken lightly.
“We believe that teachers and learners are members of the various communities that are already battling the pandemic, thus they might have been exposed to the pandemic before the schools reopening,” Motshekga added.
She said the reopened schools should be considered as the epicentres of surveillance, screening, contact tracing, and testing of cases that otherwise would have fallen through the cracks.
This week Eastern Cape Health authorities confirmed that 204 staffers and learners at rural school hostel had tested positive for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, Motshekga said she was "happy to indicate that all provinces are now finalising management plans for the return of Grades R, 1, 2, 3, 6, 10, and 11 on the 6th of July 2020."
"We have been burning the midnight oil with all Education MECs. We are satisfied that the system is ready to restart amidst the new COVID-19 induced measures," she said.
