One of first outbreaks was in supermarket in Cape Town suburb 11 April 2021 - 00:00 Tulio de Oliveira
Everyone knew “the monster” would arrive.
It was just a matter of time before the strange new coronavirus that had popped up in Wuhan, China, would make its way onto South African soil though nobody knew where or when or how.
When it finally happened, the narrative of “patient zero” a KwaZulu-Natal man who had been skiing with his wife in Italy lodged itself in the national psyche.
But in a hermetically sealed laboratory at Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town, professor Susan Engelbrecht from the University of Stellenbosch suited up and sat herself down to discover the hidden chapters of the story.
“Extra isolation capacity is being developed within the campus residence and quarantine facilities are being secured through the help of the department of health.
“All final-year health science students who are patient-facing have been given an opportunity to vaccinate at Steve Biko [hospital] so that there is risk containment for themselves and their peers that they interact with,” he said.
UP spokesperson Rikus Delport on Tuesday said about 115 students had tested positive for Covid-19 at a few residences since March 19.
Delport said it was suspected that the virus was contracted off-campus at one or more of the pubs and restaurants regularly frequented by students in the Hatfield area.
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02 April 2021 - 11:49 Higher education, science and innovation minister Blade Nzimande is concerned about outbreaks at some universities and TVET colleges Image: Kopano Tlape/GCIS
Higher education minister Blade Nzimande said on Friday he was concerned about pockets of Covid-19 outbreaks at some universities and TVET colleges which had the potential to trigger a third wave of infections.
Earlier this week 55 students tested positive at the University of Pretoria (UP).
Apart from the outbreak at UP, the department had received other reports of Covid-19 infections within the post school education and training sector.
Nzimande appealed to students and staff to adhere to Covid-19 regulations as the academic year got under way.
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