Wits student given all clear after initially testing positive

The University of Witwatersrand student who initially tested positive for Covid-19 has now been cleared following a second test, Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said on Friday.

The minister said the student is “doing well and his doctor is happy”.

“The only scientific explanation for the change of his results was clinical recovery, which means that if today you have the virus and the body is busy shedding the virus, you can find that the following day the virus would disappear from your body,” he said.

The student had initially tested positive, despite not showing any symptoms.

The university then instructed students in the same programme as the patient to go into self-isolation for 14 days.

Wits spokesperson Shirona Patel said this new development did not change the institution’s directive to students to evacuate from residences.

“The status of the student will not change the university’s stance in any way. The university’s position on the matter is informed by and in accordance with the directive of the WHO [World Health Organisation], president [Cyril Ramaphosa] and NICD [National Institute for Communicable Diseases].”