Mabona said the department was worried about the numbers.
He said the decision to close schools comes after an assessment was done in collaboration with the health department.
The department would continue to work closely with the health department, he said.
“What is encouraging now is that it has been announced that all our educators are going to be vaccinated ... The information that came from that briefing was that the process must only take 10 days. We will be making sure that we avail our staff so that they can receive those doses,” said Mabona.
“We will be working very tirelessly to make sure the process of vaccination is done without any failure.”
The department was working to manage the pandemic, he added.
TimesLIVE
Covid-19 cases in Gauteng schools continue to rise
There are now 4,700 Covid-19 cases in Gauteng schools, as infections in the provincial education sector continue to rise.
“We can confirm that the Covid-19 positive cases have increased. When you compare with the previous figure of just about 3,000, now we are standing at 4,706 cases that are coming from our schools,” said department spokesperson Steve Mabona.
During his 2021/22 budget speech on Thursday, provincial education MEC Panyaza Lesufi announced that 20 schools had closed in the province due to Covid-19 cases.
Lesufi said the third wave was causing “immeasurable panic and misery” in Gauteng schools.
Mabona said the department was worried about the numbers.
He said the decision to close schools comes after an assessment was done in collaboration with the health department.
The department would continue to work closely with the health department, he said.
“What is encouraging now is that it has been announced that all our educators are going to be vaccinated ... The information that came from that briefing was that the process must only take 10 days. We will be making sure that we avail our staff so that they can receive those doses,” said Mabona.
“We will be working very tirelessly to make sure the process of vaccination is done without any failure.”
The department was working to manage the pandemic, he added.
TimesLIVE