Covid outbreak at Stats SA training session in Pretoria

Stats SA employees and contract workers attending a training course at a Pretoria hotel have been asked to stay in their rooms after four people in the group tested positive for Covid-19.

The workshop, at the St George's Hotel, was to train workers for a planned census pilot project due to be carried out in late January 2021.

“Despite adhering to Covid-19 protocols such as social distancing, sanitising, wearing face masks and ensuring that we did not exceed the limited 180 people, we have four positive cases,” said Stats SA spokesperson Trevor Oosterwyk.

It was unclear whether they had been infected before arriving at the workshop or picked up the virus during the training course.

The attendees, who are all Stats SA employees or contract workers from Gauteng, are being screened for possible exposure to the virus.

“We are going to screen everyone,” said Oosterwyk, adding that nobody had been detained in their rooms. “We have asked people to remain in their rooms. But they are adults,” he said.

The training course, scheduled to finish on Tuesday, would carry on virtually.

“The training could not be stopped,” said Oosterwyk.

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