Thursday, 25 June

10:15

The University of Cape Town (UCT) explains how and why it will report new COVID-19 cases at the institution.

The university will not report the names of people who test positive for COVID-19. It will only make public non-personalised information as reported to the university by faculties and departments. By reporting the facts as we receive them, UCT seeks to prevent the circulation of false or unverified information about the impact of the virus on the university community.

Since the last report on UCT’s COVID-19 cases in May, there have been some delays and complexities in reporting new cases. Additional cases involving UCT Health Sciences staff members and students working with the Western Cape Department of Health or the National Health Laboratory Service have been reported.

The university has decided that cases of COVID-19 infection among Health Sciences staff and students performing health system work need to be reported separately from cases involving the rest of the UCT community, because UCT members in the health system group are at far higher risk of infection.

As a result, here are the new COVID-19 cases since the last report on 14 May 2020:

• 28 staff members in the non-health sciences UCT community have tested positive for COVID-19, with two recoveries so far. Three staff members have passed away from COVID-19 complications.
• Five medical students in the Health Sciences faculty have tested positive for COVID-19. They are all engaged in their final-year clinical platform.
• Four students in other faculties have tested positive.

UCT will update these figures on a regular basis.

Read about support for staff health and wellness

Read about support for student health and wellness

Visit the Western Cape Government COVID-19 Dashboard for daily updates of documented cases by suburb and town.

Read the VC Desk.