THE number of COVID-19 cases at John Tallach Secondary School, 40km outside Bulawayo, has risen to 122 amid fears the figures could still go up. Testing is still ongoing and the figure could rise, Primary and Secondary Education ministry spokesman Taungana Ndoro said yesterday. The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland-run school has an enrolment of over 623 pupils. “As of this morning, we have 118 students and four teachers who have been infected with the virus,” Ndoro told online news outlet ZimLive, adding that the majority of them were asymptomatic. The Health ministry has set up a temporary clinic at the school and stopped people from coming in or going out at the institution. “Students, school employees and teachers are isolated at the school, so parents and families are protected,” Ndoro said. An emergency was declared at the school last week after six pupils were found to have above normal temperatures during routine screening. Five later tested positive for the virus which has infected 9 046 Zimbabweans and killed 265 others since March. The government has been criticised over its decision to reopen schools in the middle of a pandemic, but Ndoro maintained that they have so far been successful in curtailing the spread of the virus. “The situation across the country is manageable and the infection rate at the school in Matabeleland North represents 0,002% of learners affected countrywide, showing that the ministry’s standard operating procedures have currently got a success rate of 99,998%,” he said. — ZimLive