The staff member was immediately referred for testing after screening positively during the routine temperature reading exercise, as staff report for duty.

As per Department of Health (DoH) and National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) guidelines, the staff member is currently in isolation, under treatment and being monitored by healthcare professionals.

A COVID-19 contact line list of the DoH and NICD has been completed after contact tracing was done. All work contacts, who were also screened, are under quarantine, where they are to remain for 14 days.

Two of the listed contacts who have also screened positively, have been referred for testing and are awaiting their results.

The University took immediate steps to decontaminate the associated workspaces and the Department of Labour (DoL) is to be contacted regarding the applicable measures taken by the University in the last few days.

The University’s Occupational Health and Wellness team will remain in continuous contact with the staff member, who tested positive, as well as the listed contacts for the necessary support, monitoring and guidance.

We wish our affected colleagues strength and a speedy recovery.

As Mandela University, we are committed to walking this journey with them, by offering the necessary psychosocial support.

As the University gears for a phased resumption to campuses, we wish to assure staff and students that all the necessary measures have been taken as their health and safety remains of utmost importance.

Lebogang Hashatse
Deputy Vice-Chancellor: People and Operations
Chairperson: Coronavirus Task Team (CTT)