Four hundred and thirty (430) cases of coronavirus have been recorded in schools since they opened on 30 August, with Matabeleland South Province accounting for most of the cases.
Several schools in Midlands, Masvingo and Mashonaland East provinces have also recorded COVID-19 cases.
Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education’s director of communication and advocacy Taungana Ndoro said Government is on top of the situation. Said Ndoro:
We are proud of our scientific surveillance through our standard guidelines for the coordinated prevention and management of the COVID-19 pandemic at all learning institutions.
In terms of the schools’ standard operating protocols, all infected learners must be isolated in sick bays or special dormitories that have been created at the institutions.
But Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou recently warned that the rising coronavirus cases could turn schools into quarantine centres.
He urged the Government to provide more testing kits in schools.