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Nomini Elementary School (Photo by Gallo Images / Papi Morake)
Teams of experts and trackers have arrived in Burgersdorp in the Eastern Cape, where a large outbreak of Covid-19 infections dates back to a school. As education officials scramble to find a way for the school’s 12th graders to write tests, new concerns have been raised about the province’s statistics that have not been updated for a week.
One week after the joint operations center in the Joe Gqabi district municipality warned in its updated Covid-19 report that the district now had the highest positive test rate, 29.2% (7% higher than the provincial average ), in the Eastern Cape, there has been an outbreak of infections at a school in Burgersdorp with 98 children so far testing positive.
A spokesman for the Eastern Cape Health Department, Sizwe Kupelo, who was in Burgersdorp on Sunday, said the department had sent a team to the small town to treat the outbreak.
“We are working with the Department of Education. We also have a member of the World Health Organization’s outbreak team here, ”he said. “We are closely monitoring the situation and trying to prevent the virus from spreading further,” he said.
The Eastern Cape Health Department has not provided an updated breakdown of infection figures for the province in a week.
Jane Cowley of the Democratic Alliance said the statistics provided are chaotic in any case and that a letter she wrote to the MEC for Health Sindiswa Gomba to inquire about this went unanswered.
He said that in August, consolidated reports provided to members of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature were riddled with conflicting data, yielding two very different sets of figures for active cases in the province.
“The situation in the Eastern Cape is extremely worrying, as accurate data is essential if we are to control the spread of the disease and prevent a secondary outbreak that could lead to new lockdown measures and disruptions to the economy that the province cannot afford.” .
As an example, Cowley said the department reported that on Aug. 21, 2020, there were 1,420 active cases in the province on one page of its report, but on a map showing the breakdown, it reported that there were 2,355 active cases. Only three of the eight districts had active case numbers that matched those presented in the table.
On August 23, the department provided three different figures for the number of active cases: 1,647, 1,800 and 1,796 on the map.
“The MEC for Health must understand that presenting false information to the public about Covid-19 statistics will not improve the response to the pandemic or the public opinion around the response to the pandemic. Too many lives have already been lost, ”Cowley said.
Mali Mtima of the Eastern Cape Health Department said the provincial MEC for education, Fundile Gade, had been “shocked” to learn of the outbreak at Burgersdorp school.
“Eastern Cape Education MEC, Fundile Gade learned with surprise that 98 students from Ethembeni High School tested positive for Covid-19 while they were busy with their mock exams and said children from Burgersdorp and Middelburg were affected.
“A multi-departmental team made up of the local municipality, the Health and Public Works and Education departments has been established to manage the spread of this outbreak and advise on appropriate measures for students, especially those who write their mock exams,” he said. Mtima.
“Currently, the team has advised the department to allow students to write, as there are [no] reasons to detain students, as they are medically fit. Supervisors have been advised to put on personal protective equipment and scripts will also be monitored for a specified period before being flagged. “
Mtima said the health department had requested counseling for the children and was developing a plan to prevent them from transmitting the virus to their homes or parents.
Gade said a report released by the Health Department indicated that 552 students will be quarantined. He said the report confirmed contact tracing had begun.
“Of the 685 students and teachers tested, 98 students tested positive. Our team provides hourly updates to help establish the number of matrices in this group that tested positive for isolation. The Department of Public Works has indicated that these students will be isolated in Aliwal North. In this center, students will be able to continue writing their mock exams, ”Gade said.
More isolation sites in Steynsburg were identified for 12th graders who tested negative, as doctors warned they might still be in the incubation phase.
“All the contacts of the 98 positive students are being tracked and located urgently to stop the spread of the virus. The government’s approach is also aimed at preventing loss of life, especially to parents and families who may have comorbidities. We urge communities to work with us to make sure we stop the spread of this outbreak, ”Gade said.
Burgersdorp has about 15,000 residents, including those living in its two municipalities, Mzamomhle and Tembisa, on the outskirts of the city. The Joe Gqabi District Municipality’s Joint Operations Center issued a statement Friday saying it was awaiting test results from 65 other students.
However, the municipality expressed concern that several of the infected students had already been in contact with their families.
“There is a real concern that this outbreak will spread to the community,” his statement reads.
In early September, in a detailed report on the status of the outbreak in Joe Gqabi’s district, officials had expressed concern about the discrepancy between their statistics and those of the Eastern Cape Health Department.
The provincial department, despite a request from Health Minister Zweli Mkhize for daily updates to be issued, has not provided a detailed breakdown of infections in the province in seven days.
There were three smaller outbreaks in towns that belong to the township with 37 cases and five deaths identified at the Dirk Postma Nursing Home in Burgersdorp, 29 at Huis van der Horst on Aliwal North and 3 at Barkley East Diens Sentrum. According to the municipality, there was also a small outbreak at Burgersdorp prison.
The district has the lowest number of tests in the province at only 9,941 (2.4% of the provincial test count) but the highest positivity rate at 29.2%. The provincial positivity rate is 21%.
In its report released Sept. 6, the joint operations center has also expressed concern about the large number of non-compliant funerals in the area. Only 43 of 59 funerals had complied with the Covid-19 prevention measures.
“It is particularly concerning that the nature of non-compliant funerals is becoming more aggressive with large crowds and a blatant disregard for regulations. This puts law enforcement officers at risk, ”said the report from the joint operations center.
Tracking teams from nearby municipalities have been called in to help find close contacts of infected people. MC
