BUSINESS REPORTER
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has deferred the opening of schools until further notice as Zimbabwe battles a spike in new Covid-19 cases and deaths.
Announcing the extension of the lockdown by a further two weeks, Mnangagwa ordered that only examination classes are exempt from the delay but expected to “strictly comply with preventive public health measures”.
According to a schedule released by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, examination classes open on Monday for students to complete their exams. All the other classes, except Form One, were scheduled to open on January 10.
“With the exception of examination classes which resume classes as announced by the responsible Ministry, the general school calendar is hereby delayed until further notice,” Mnangagwa said.
He said Zimbabwe is in the grip of an Omicron variant-induced fourth wave whose curve “we continue to struggle to flatten, before the curve begins to tend down”.
Mnangagwa said employers are expected to put in train all essential preventive public health measures, including “encouraging part of their workforce to operate from home and through virtual platforms”.
From December 26 to 30, Zimbabwe recorded 112 deaths and 7982 new infections.
