UPDATE: St John’s clarifies situation at the school following nine positive Covid-19 cases

Update (3.15pm):

St John’s College has sought to clarify the false reports circulating concerning the school.

In a statement from the school, released to the Gazette this afternoon, Executive Headmaster Stuart West said, “To be clear: we have seven senior students, one primary school student and one staff member who have tested positive in the past week.”

“St John’s College conducted all the contact tracing and supervised the additional close contacts who were subsequently tested. All these further tests returned a negative result.”

The school said they have had excellent and constructive discussions with both the Department of Health and Department of Basic Education over the past few days where the school’s Covid-19 management team was applauded by the Departments for excellent protocols and their handling of the Covid-19 cases at the school.

“In a conference call with the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Health this morning, we agreed to suspend all afternoon sport and extra murals until Monday 24 May. During the next ten days, we will closely monitor the situation together with both Departments before any decisions are made to resume afternoon extramural and sporting activities.”

“We remain committed to placing the health of staff and students and the fulfilment of our academic programme as our key priorities.”

West said the Department of Education has assured them that St John’s is not alone as many other state and independent schools face infections among their learners and staff.

“We have offered to work closely with both departments as they gather information and refine their protocols for cluster outbreaks in schools in the face of a likely third wave.”

“We act in the best interests of our students and staff at all times, supported by our families, to ensure the safety of our greater community,” said West.

Update (3pm):

St John’s College announced on their Facebook page that the school remains open, despite statements from spokesperson of the Gauteng Department of Education Steve Mabona stating otherwise.

“…St John’s College remains open with everyone across all grades and forms enjoying a full academic programme, including online learning for those who are in quarantine,” said the school on their Facebook page.

Original story

A decision has been made to scrap academic activities at St John’s College in Houghton after the discovery of six positive Covid-19 cases on 12 May.

Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) Steve Mabona said the decision was made in consultation with the Department of Health (DoH), district directors and the GDE.

Mabona said those who tested positive for Covid-19 at the school were requested to go into isolation immediately. The temporary closure of the school took place just two weeks after learners returned to school after a break for holidays.

Mabona said the school would be closed temporarily from 12 to 17 May. “The DoH and GDH School Health Teams conduct contact tracing and tracking at schools across Gauteng. This ensures that we are kept abreast of the occurrence of Covid-19 cases and that we swiftly attend to those which we identify,” said Mabona.

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