Five schools in the Northern Cape have shut their doors temporarily after Covid outbreaks occurred.
Two of the schools are located in Kimberley while the remaining three are in Delportshoop.
The Education Department said:
We currently have a total of five schools in the province that have closed due to Covid-19 cases and it's very important to mention that we are working very closely with the Department of Health in this regard.
The decision to close the schools came from advice given by the Health Department with the Education Department explaining, "we will never neglect or put the lives of learners and educators at risk".
The Northern Cape education department has however said that the schools will re-open soon in line with Covid-19 protocols.
Northern Cape is one of the provinces who are said to be in the third wave with case numbers increasing rapidly. This is now having an impact on both schools and Universities in the province.
Sol Plaatje University (SPU) in Kimberley has seen an increase in cases which started three weeks ago. SPU has therefore decided to work with the principles of lockdown level 3.
Vice-Chancellor of the University, Professor Andrew Crouch, said:
At this point in time, there's only about 50% of our students that are back on campus. The others are being taught through the online platform.
As for staff at the University, Crouch explained that once they heard that some more staff have tested positive, they then immediately put in action a plan where staff would come into work on a rotational basis.
The province saw it's highest daily increase in cases on Sunday with 615 people testing positive.
Authorities believe that the province will cope in terms of health services available.
