Covid-19-positive teacher sets herself on fire

A 45-year-old school teacher from Benoni fell into depression because she couldn’t take the gossip that was going on social media about her positive Covid-19 status and tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire.

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Speaking to the Sowetan, the teacher’s husband (whose name was withheld to protect the family and is a school principal himself) shared how his wife woke up that morning around 4am and went to the kitchen while everybody in the house was still asleep, went back to her isolation room and set herself on fire.

Her husband says that he and their 17-year-old son only realised what was going on after they went to check if she was fine before they went back to bed.

“It was day 11 [June 6] of her being in quarantine at home. After all the support and medication we had given her, we did not realize she was losing it. After a while, we realised there was something burning. I ran to her isolation room. It was locked. I broke the door open and found her in flames,” he explains.

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Her husband also gave details about how his wife had tested positive two weeks ago after attending a school meeting in Daveyton where she’s a teacher. The teacher is now recovering from her burns wounds and has subsequently tested negative for the virus.

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