204 people at a boarding school in the Eastern Cape have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education said learners and hostel staff at Makaula Senior Secondary School in KwaBhaca tested positive. IOL reports that doctors and tracers have been deployed to the school.

Provincial Health spokesperson, Sizwe Kupelo, said, “Initially 24 learners tested positive last week, with 180 others, which include hostel assistants, testing positive this week.”

Kupelo said the department is considering adapting the hostel to an isolation facility. Health teams have been sent out to determine whether the building is suitable to be used for quarantine.

The Eastern Cape has the third highest number of Covid-19 cases in South Africa, after Gauteng and the Western Cape. On Monday the Eastern Cape’s total number of infections stood at 16 895, with Gauteng at 22 341. The Western Cape had the highest number of cases at 52 554.

Umm Muhammed Umar