The Sunday News
Judith Phiri, Sunday News Reporter
A STUDENT at Girls’ College High School in Bulawayo has tested positive for Covid-19, as cases and deaths in the city continue to rise.
In a letter to upper six parents, Girls’ College principal Mrs Lesley Ross said an attendee to an Upper Sixth Leavers Dinner Dance held last week tested positive for Covid-19.
“As you know, on Thursday 19th November Girls’ College held a Leavers Dinner Dance for our U6 Leavers. The event was held in a large open venue and numbers of both guests and staff working at the event were kept below 100. Unfortunately, since the dance one of the attendees has tested positive for Covid 19,” read the letter.
She added that they were not sure as yet whether this person contracted it before or after the dance, but the school however, recommended that as a precaution all U6 students and their partners who attended the dance, staff and other people working at the dance to follow the CDC (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines.
Mrs Ross said that as far as the rest of the school is concerned, they were hopeful that the virus has been contained within the U6 group as they had for the most part finished their exams and left school and hostels some time before the dance.
“However, the school continues to take all necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our staff and students,” she said.
Girls’ College is among other educational institutions in the country where learners and teachers have tested positive. Other schools and colleges on the record with Covid-19 cases are John Tallach High School in Ntabazinduna, Wise Owl Primary in Harare, Emakhandeni Primary School in Bulawayo, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo Polytechnic in Gwanda and Kwekwe Polytechnic.
Meanwhile, another Covid-19 death was recorded in Bulawayo on Tuesday as the city continues to record an upward trend in Covid-19 cases.
According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care, 90 new Covid-19 infections and one new death were recorded on Tuesday, bringing the total cases to 9 398 cases and fatalities at 274. A total of 923 PCR tests were done.
“All 90 are local cases. At least 9 new recoveries were reported. The National Recovery Rate stands at 89.5 percent and active cases go up to 827 on Tuesday. As of 24 November 2020, Zimbabwe has now recorded 9 398 cases, 8 297 recoveries and 274 deaths,” said the Ministry.
According to part of the statistics Mashonaland West was leading with 42 new cases, followed by Bulawayo with 25, Matabeleland South with 11, Harare with 7, Masvingo with 3 and Mashonaland Central with 2 bringing the total to 90.
