UL says news of coronavuris (Covid-19) case on campus is ‘false’
This is after news surfaced on social media that a 20-year-old male University of Limpopo student from KwaZulu-Natal tested positive for cornonavirus (Covid-19)
POLOKWANE – News that a student at the University of Limpopo was tested positive for cornonavirus (Covid-19) is false, confirmed the University of Limpopo in a statement on Friday, 6 March.
This is after news surfaced on social media that a 20-year-old male campus student from KwaZulu-Natal tested positive for the virus is being kept in isolation in the health centre on campus.
I don't know hoe true this is but all the people from Limpopo should be careful @ULvarsity #universityoflimpopo #CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/bZIfg2gcHK
— Ctrl factor 🧑🎨🎨🖌️🌈🏳️🌈 (@Lip_licker_B) March 6, 2020
The posts further alleged that all students were to evacuate the campus with immediate effect.
https://twitter.com/IAM__Network/status/1235860719997870081
In the statement the executive management of the university categorically denied that there is such a case reported on campus. “We have noted with concern, news that a positive case of coronavirus (Covid-19) has been reported on the campus and can confirm that these associated social media posting are false,” the statement reads.
These allegations surfaced a day after the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed South Africa’s first case of Covid-19, commonly referred to as the coronavirus, in KwaZulu-Natal. The patient is a 38-year-old male who travelled to Italy with his wife and arrived back in South Africa on March 1.
The university management in the statement reminded people that matters involving Cornonavirus (Covid-19) can only be confirmed by the NICD and be announced by the Department of Health.
In the meantime, 16 students from the Henan province in China were placed under quarantine on Friday after they arrived back in Limpopo from China.
Neil Shikwambaba, Spokesperson for the Department of Health said the students were under strict lockdown in China, where they were thoroughly quarantined and tested before being repatriated. “They are in self-isolation, despite having tested tested negative for the coronavirus and are expected to remain quarantined for two weeks.”
The students are from the Capricorn FET College in Limpopo.
Shikwambana called for calm following the return of the students, and said that “upon arrival, more screening was done on them which cleared them from any signs of the Covid-19 virus. The department dispatched officials to meet them and take them through the process of self-isolation and will give them supplies to utilise during the process.”
He added that healthcare professionals would be available to assist the students during the 14-day quarantine period. “The department is in constant communication with the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NCID) and national Department of Health. Any confirmed case will be communicated from that level,” he concluded.
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