For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines: SA schools make progress in getting ready to reopen on June 1, Glenda Gray 'grateful for support' and, Namibia records five SA-linked Covid-19 cases in a week

SA schools make progress in getting ready to reopen on June 1

South African schools are making progress in preparations to reopen on June 1 after shutting down due to the Covid-19 outbreak, although some have not yet received their safety material, the department of education has said.

The department said the council of education ministers met on Monday to look at the progress made so far and heard that schools were being cleaned while delivery of personal protective equipment was taking place. 

South African schools and universities have been closed since mid-March in an effort to avoid the spread of the coronavirus among students and staff.

 

Glenda Gray 'grateful for support'

Ministerial Advisory Committee chairperson Professor Glenda Gray has expressed her gratitude after the South African Medical Research Council cleared her for recent comments about government's Covid-19 lockdown regulations.

She came under fire last week over comments in which she criticised some of the government's lockdown regulations as "unscientific" and, in some cases, thumb-sucked.

She claimed there were increased malnutrition cases in children at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital. She later clarified her comment.

Gray also clarified that she had not criticised the lockdown or the extension of the lockdown, saying it was, in fact, critical. She emphasised that her comments related to some of the regulations imposed.

On Monday, the SAMRC board apologised to the Ministry of Health and the MAC for Gray's comments, saying it would institute a fact-finding investigation into the "damage" the comments may have caused.

 

Namibia records five SA-linked Covid-19 cases in a week

Namibia has recorded five South African-linked Covid-19 cases in the past week, bringing the total number of confirmed infections to 21.

A 47 year-old truck driver was confirmed positive on Sunday at Walvis Bay. He had travelled from South Africa on May 8 and was quarantined at Walvis Bay truck port.

He snuck into the community with another driver. 

The duo was arrested by police and placed in supervised quarantine at the Walvis Bay Hospital isolation unit. 

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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