BY PATRICIA SIBANDA SCHOOLS in Bulawayo and surrounding areas have recorded 236 COVID-19 cases since the second term opened early last month.
Bulawayo City Council’s director of health services Edwin Sibanda revealed this yesterday.
Sibanda told Southern Eye that the number of cases recorded since the opening of schools had escalated over the past two weeks.
“The total number of cases detected at learning institutions since the re-opening of schools has increased to 236, with about 221 learners and 15 staff members having contracted the virus,” Sibanda said.
“We suggest that schools should put in place mitigatory measures to curb the spread of the respiratory virus. We have started assessing compliance of learning institutions to COVID-19 protocols, which is an ongoing exercise, as well as scaling up efforts to induce positive behaviour change.”
He said Bulawayo City Council would be collaborating with stakeholders, including those in the education sector to mitigate the gaps identified during the ongoing assessment exercise.
Sibanda said council would also embark on capacity building programmes targeted at learning institutions.
Last month, council revealed that four students had contracted COVID-19. The four cases included the first two cases recorded at the beginning of May.
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During the COVID-19 update recently, the council’s senior health promotions officer Sitshengisiwe Siziba revealed that only tertiary institutions and primary schools had recorded COVID-19 cases.
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