Another school in Cape Town hit by Covid-19 case during prep week

Parkvale primary school in Valhalla Park is the second school in Cape Town to have a positive Covid-19 case among educators, the Western Cape education department said on Tuesday.

Spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Schäfer, Kerry Mauchline, confirmed that the school was closed and would reopen after the department’s protocols, such as deep-cleaning, were followed.

“I can confirm that a positive case at Parkvale Primary has been reported to us”, she said.

This comes after Hague primary school reported on Monday that a staff member had tested positive for Covid-19.

However, the department confirmed that the school would reopen on 1 June after it also followed protocols.

The Western Cape education department’s Covid-19 guidelines state that should an educator fall ill due to Covid-19, the school must apply for a substitute.

The school should apply for a substitute if a teacher is absent from work because of the maximum 14-day self-isolation period.

Those who were in close contact with the staffer will also need to self-isolate and contacts will be traced.

Various provincial bodies of the SA Democratic Teacher’s Union (Sadtu) have called for teachers not to return to school if they were not happy with the school’s preparedness in providing protection, including in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

The Western Cape Sadtu branch was locked in talks with the department of education earlier this week and would communicate an outcome thereafter, IOL reported.

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