The reopening of schools in South Africa has been pushed back by two weeks, because of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic.
They will now resume on 15 February, according to the education ministry.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is currently on sick leave, so her deputy Reginah Mhaule made the announcement in her place on Friday.
Ms Mhaule didn’t disclose what the minister was suffering from but said: “The minister is at home. She is fine, when we speak to her she is fine. I don’t know about the Covid status but she is recovering at home and will be back next week.”
“Given the pressure experienced by the health system in the past few weeks, occasioned by increased COVID-19 infections which has led to the second wave, the council of education ministers in conjunction with the national coronavirus command council and cabinet has taken the decision to delay the reopening of both public and private schools by two weeks,” deputy basic education minister Reginah Mhaule said in a media briefing.
“This includes private schools that have already. They will need to postpone their reopening to a later date. This is done to provide relief to the health system which is already struggling to cope with the current demands.”
BBC/TIMES
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