Covid-19 keeping 200 Eastern Cape schools closed: premier Oscar Mabuyane

There are 200 Eastern Cape schools that remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, premier Oscar Mabuyane said in Bhisho on Tuesday morning.

Mabuyane said a total of 291 schools in the province had been affected by Covid-19.

He said 24 health workers from the province have died from the virus, while 838 health workers have tested positive.

Mabuyane and his MECs briefed the media on the work done to stop the spread of the virus.

Education MEC Fundile Gade said 15 people from his department have succumbed to Covid-19 related illnesses. The majority of those are teachers, he said.

With infections rising in schools across the province, Gade said: “There is a need of a discussion at a national level to reconsider the phasing in of other grades that were scheduled to be back on July 6 - for strategic reasons.”

- DispatchLIVE