MEC of Education reported that Kenmare school is under ‘quarantine’
Some apparently contradicting reports about Laerskool Kenmare's early closing as a pre-emptive action against flu in the school have raised some questions.
On Monday 10 June, Laerskool Kenmare made a public announcement that they would be closing the school four days early for the end of the second quarter.
Some uncertainty had arisen surrounding why and how this occurred, as differing reports have found their way into the public domain.
Read initial article here:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/381407/kenmare-learners-death-caused-by-pneumonia-not-swine-flu-2/
To clarify: Kenmare’s management had contacted the Department of Education on Monday, requesting permission to close the school four days early. This request was granted and the school officially went on holiday break on Tuesday, 11 June.
Please note that the Department of Education has asked that the school’s staff and management make no further comment to the media. The information contained in this article comes from letters and statements already released by the school on Monday.
Today I rushed to Laerskool Kenmare in Krugersdorp to attend to a flu like disease that has affected learners and educators. We’ve since decided to close the school indefinitely and quarantine the premises until health Officials can advise us otherwise #LaerskoolKenmare pic.twitter.com/BTnHEKJa0V
— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) June 11, 2019
A day after it was reported that the request to close early was made and accepted, and after the school was already closed, the MEC of Education, Panyaza Lesufi, visited the school. He later remarked the following on Twitter: “Today I rushed to Laerskool Kenmare in Krugersdorp to attend to a flu-like disease that has affected learners and educators. We’ve since decided to close the school indefinitely and quarantine the premises until health officials can advise us otherwise.”
Also Read:
https://www.citizen.co.za/krugersdorp-news/381418/update-laerskool-kenmare-closes-early-as-a-precaution-against-a-flu-outbreak/
This post was made on Lesufi’s personal Twitter account on Tuesday, 11 June, despite the school already announcing on Monday that they were allowed to close the school and intended to do so.
It was, in fact, the school which made the active decision to close the school as a pre-emptive measure. Kenmare principal, Wouter Immelman, reported on Monday that about 25 per cent of the school’s learners were absent on the day because they were either already sick or parents feared that they would contract flu.
In the Tweet, Lesufi stated that the school is closed “indefinitely” and placed under “quarantine”.
The word ‘quarantine’ is a very serious and definition-specific term, meaning to separate and restrict the movement of people who were exposed to a contagious disease to see if they become sick, as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) organisation. Laerskool Kenmare is not actively separating sick children from others, and is also not restricting anyone’s movements. The school is simply closed early for the school holiday period, and no children are actively being separated from other members of society.
The News has made multiple phone calls to the Department of Health for confirmation or refutation on the matter of quarantine, but the phone calls were not answered. An email was subsequently sent to the Department of Health, and the News is awaiting a response to this. If a response is received, an update to this story will be placed.
