Durban - THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education has reported a significant drop in the rate of Covid-19 infections in schools across the province.
However, the figures have been questioned by teacher unions which said they do not tally with the realities on the ground.
The department said that on some days it had received no reports of infections from schools.
The department was briefing the education portfolio committee as it was obligated to provide monthly reports on infections.
It said from August to date, cases had dropped, in line with what had been stated by the national and provincial governments.
“The infections are getting less and less, on some days we do not get any reports of infections. That shows a lot of improvement,’’ he said.
The department said the number of infections in schools and its offices was close to 3 000. Senior manager Thami Mbanjwa said the number of reported infections is 2980; out of that there were 2227 teachers, 435 pupils and 328 office workers affected.
National Teachers Union (Natu) president Allen Thompson said the statistics given by the department did not tally with what was on the ground.
“A lot more teachers have died than what has been told to the portfolio committee. We know this because we have a Natu death benefit for our members.”
He said the union would be releasing the details of member fatalities in the coming months.
The Mercury