Cape Town - The University of Cape Town's vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng has confirmed the university's third positive case of Covid-19 on Saturday afternoon.
Phakeng took the the varsity's coronavirus feature page and revealed the news. UCT's first case was confirmed on Sunday 15 March 2020 and the second case on Thursday 19 March 2020.
"I am writing to inform you that we have confirmed a third positive case of Covid-19 at UCT. The first case was a UCT-employed staff member. The second was a UCT-based visiting researcher associated with a department at UCT," Phakeng said.
"The third case confirmed today, 21 March, is a UCT-employed project manager who worked in the same department as the second case."
The vice-chancellor said that all three instances the Provincial Department of Health confirmed the cases through the prescribed protocol.
"The three colleagues involved are in quarantine. The Department of Health has also immediately begun contact tracing in the respective cases and those identified as close contacts have been informed and asked to quarantine themselves for two weeks.
"We continue to monitor each case and we wish all three colleagues the best in what is a difficult time. We sincerely trust that they will return to their full health," Phakeng said.
Numerous resources have been made available to the public regarding COVID-19. These include:
- The NICD Hotline on 0800 029 999 operates seven days a week, 24 hours a day
- The Western Cape Provincial Government Hotline on 021 928 4102
- https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
* For the latest on the Covid-19 outbreak visit IOL's #Coronavirus trend page.
** If you think you have been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, please call the 24-hour hotline on 0800 029 999