Health expert says children should be tested before returning to school
A Durban-based pediatrician says the chances of children and adolescents contracting COVID-19 are multiplied in a schooling environment.
Dr Raj Moethi-lalh has been sharing his expert opinion following the announcement by our Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga that schools nationally will resume teaching and learning on 1st of June.
Grade 7s and 12s will be the first groups to return - with other grades gradually phased in after that.
READ: KZN education MEC ensures schools are clean and safe before June re-opening
Motshekga says by then all the necessary safety measures will have been put in place.
But Dr Moethi-lalh is not so sure this will be enough, based on pupil behaviour. He says the chances are high and by nature, children are going to pull their masks off,
"They will give high fives or hug when they meet their friends and secondly I don't think the classes will have social distancing that is what I am concerned about. When it comes to children going to school, the idea will be if each of them have been tested. If parents can afford that should test the child and present the results to the school."
