PRETORIA, June 26 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Some teachers and parents in South Africa’s Western Cape province are demonstrating and demanding the closure of schools over the spread of coronavirus.
A few principals have written an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa urging him to rethink the decision to open schools.
They say that virus cases within the community are now affecting pupils and teachers.
According to the Western Cape Education Department, over 300 staff members and 61 pupils had tested positive for coronavirus.
Some teachers refused to report back to work after colleagues tested positive for the virus, Eye Witness News reports.
The Western Cape is the worst-hit province in the country, with almost 50% of South Africa’s cases.
South Africa said it had over 101,590 Covid-19 coronavirus cases, the highest in the continent, while the number of deaths inched towards 2,000.
The worst-hit area is Western Cape, the coastal province accounting for 1,458 of the country’s deaths and more than half of its infections.
According to the World Health Organisation, more than half of the continent’s infections are in South Africa.
South Africa has struggled to set a strategy for dealing with the pandemic.
Officials instituted a strict lockdown when the virus first hit in March but they backtracked as the rate of infections increased and opted to reopen most sectors of the economy.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize has warned that the gradual reopening does not mean the threat of Covid-19 has disappeared. — NNN-AGENCIES