SCHOOLS CLOSE AGAIN FOLLOWING A SHARP INCREASE OF COVID-19 CASES

President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on 23 July following the increase of COVID-19 cases.

“Since I last addressed the nation 11 days ago, more than 130,000 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed. As of this evening, the total number of confirmed cases stands at 408,052. South Africa now has the fifth highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world and accounts for half of all the cases in Africa,” Ramaphosa said.

At the time of writing, more than 6,000 people have lost their lives to the virus.

“In approaching the opening of schools, we have always said that the health and well-being of learners and educators is critical,” he said.

“Taking into account the views of the various stakeholders and expert bodies, Cabinet has decided that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks. This means that schools will be closed from 27 July and will re-open on 24 August,” Ramaphosa announced.