By Kaya 959 News
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health is looking into claims that over 20 learners tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a party at the weekend.
It is alleged that about 23 learners from Belverton Secondary School on the KZN north coast attended a birthday party on 16 June.
In an urgent notice posted on its Facebook page, the school said the party was hosted by a Grade 12 learner and one of the learners who attended has since tested positive for coronavirus.
“With new information that has been circulated, we have managed to trace the close contacts. There were 22 confirmed Grade 12 learners and one Grade 9 learner who attended the party,” the school said.
The school’s Governing Body in consultation with the Department of Basic Education decided to close the school until Thursday.
All learners who attended, their siblings, close contacts and any learner who displays any symptoms must be tested before returning to school.
READ: Public schools in Gauteng report over 1000 COVID-19 positive cases
Free testing
The school confirmed that testing will be done – free of charge – at the Tongaat Community Health Centre.
Belverton Secondary urged learners to test and return to school on Friday with their test results. Learners who were at the school will not be allowed back at school without proof of their test results.
Should any of those learners test positive, then the parents and siblings will also be tested.
“The Department of Health requests all other individuals showing symptoms of COVID-19 to call at the Tongaat Community Health Center to be tested. These results (negative) must be produced on Friday morning when learners report to school as per exam timetable,” the school said.
KZN has 8 183 active Covid cases. The latest from the KZN Department of Health shows the province at 347 136 confirmed cases with 10 623 deaths. The average number of cases recorded in the past seven days was 503 cases per day.



