OVER 63 students at Morgenster Teachers’ College in Masvingo tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend after a student from Kwekwe brought the virus into the institution, raising fears that the Indian variant which prompted the Kwekwe lockdown could pose serious harm to the educational institution.
MORRIS BISHI
The development came after over 120 other students at Bondolfi Teachers’ College tested positive to the coronavirus two weeks ago.
The index case at Bondolfi, a lady, succumbed to the respiratory disease last Wednesday.
Chiredzi remains the hardest hit district in Masvingo province, recording 30 new cases on Tuesday. Among them, five were infected despite receiving first and second jabs of Covid-19 vaccines.
Masvingo provincial Covid-19 taskforce spokesperson Rodgers Irimayi told The NewsHawks that health officials are waiting for tests to ascertain if the virus which affected students at Morgenster is from India. He said the institution was put on complete lockdown to avoid further infections.
“There is an outbreak at Morgenster Teachers’ College where 23 tested positive on Saturday and 40 were also positive on Sunday. The numbers are increasing, but our greatest fear is that one of the students travelled from Kwekwe and we are waiting for gene tests to acertain if it is the Indian variant. The index case at Bondolfi Teachers’ College died last Wednesday after being in intensive care unit for days. She had underlying conditions,” said Irimayi.
Masvingo has 172 active cases after 37 new cases were recorded on Tuesday. Out of the 37, Chiredzi had 30, Masvingo 6 and Chivi 1.
