UPDATE: List of schools with known cases of Corona virus which are already closed

Last night President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a national state of disaster has been instituted in South Africa. Along with this the president announced the closure of school from 18 March until after the Easter holidays.

However despite that schools are scheduled to close on Wednesday there are schools which are already closed as a result of actual coronavirus cases being reported there.

Name of school: Manzomthombo Senior Secondary School, Mfuleni

Circumstances of closure:  The school advised parents to keep their children at home from this morning after a mother of a pupil at the school and one of the pupils allegedly tested positive for the coronavirus. The parent is suspected to be working for a German family that recently traveled overseas. What is not clear at this time is whether the parent and the pupil who allegedly tested positive, are related.

Name of school: United Herzlia Schools

Circumstances of closure: A grade 9 pupil at this Western Cape school tested positive for the virus after in the first case of an child infection. The school was then closed and sent a message to parents that the child had gone into quarantine with her family but that her parents and younger sibling had tested negative for the virus. It later reported that it would keep the school closed until after the school holidays,

Name of school: Ridgeway Muslim school

Circumstances of closure: The board of the Ridgeway Muslim School in Johannesburg has closed the school until further notice, after information that a pupil’s mother had tested positive for the coronavirus. The school was closed on Friday and a letter was circulated to parents of pupils.“RMS contacted the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and the treating doctor to confirm the case and as such have contacted you immediately,” the school said in the letter. It is understood that the mother of the pupil was contacted by the department of health to inform her of her status. The department found that the children were not displaying any symptoms, but has placed the whole family in quarantine.

The following schools were closed as of last week:

Name of school: Cowan House Preparatory school in Hilton KZN

Circumstances of closure: This was the first school closure and came after the announcement of the very first case of coronavirus in South Africa. On 5 March news came out that a 38-year-old man from KwaZulu-Natal had contracted the virus while on holiday in Italy. It was also said that his close contacts were his family which was his wife and two school going going children. This then prompted Cowan House school in Hilton KZN, where his children are said to attend school, to close its doors. Cowan House Prep headmaster, Derek Braans said school will be closed for pupils on Monday for the continued deep clean of the school. The school’s management made the decision after both parents of two pupils at the school tested positive for coronavirus.

Name of school: Grayston Preparatory School in Morningside, Sandton

Circumstances of closure: The school was closed as a precaution on Monday because of concerns that a teacher may have been exposed to the coronavirus. New media reported that one of its teachers had been in contact with a group of South Africans who had recently travelled to Italy (and resulted in above mentioned the first ever coronavirus case in SA. )

Unnamed private school in Middelburg, Mpumalanga – CLOSED

This private school in Middelburg, which has not yet been named in a bid to protect the identity of the affected parent, closed its doors for the day on Wednesday, after a parent shared  they would be going for testing for the coronavirus.  Even through the  principal  had confirmed the school’s closure, she added that she believed that the parent would test negative.

There is as yet no official indication of when the pupils and staff will be able to return to school.  However, judging by the previous two cases, there may be a two-or-three day period of decontamination and precautionary measures at the school.

Ones to watch: There are the schools that could also potentially be hit by coronavirus closures 

• Westville Boy’s High School, KZN: This is a result of a learner who is believed to have been on the same flight as “patient zero”.
• Orient Islamic School in Greyville, KZN:  At this school one of their pupils  is currently  in self-isolation for the next 14 days as he had recently travelled to a country affected by the virus.
• Both schools will remain open for the time being. We will add more information to this article as and when we get it.

What does SADTU say?

In an interview with the Mail & guardian The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) general secretary Mugwena Maluleke said the union appreciates the decisive action taken by the government. He said the worry was that no one knows how many learners have been exposed to people who have tested positive for the virus, and it was for this reason that children should rather be safe at home. “This is a decision about our lives and we have to appreciate that. Already other governments have closed schools. If you take Kenya, if you take Palestine, last week already they announced the closure of schools,” adds Maluleke.

This is a developing story

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