Nineteen University of KwaZulu-Natal students, from the same residence, are in quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19.
Tests were conducted on 200 at Siphiwe Zuma Residence on Howard College campus after the 19 tested positive on Friday.
"The affected students have been sent to the Department of Health (DOH) facilities for isolation. This development saddens us as we have taken every precaution possible to ensure the safety of our students. It is also incumbent on our UKZN community to be as vigilant as possible," said UKZN's acting executive director of corporate relations Normah Zondo.
The university said its health teams were dealing with the outbreak.
READ | Schools: 523 pupils, 1 169 staff test positive for Covid-19 - Dept of Basic Education
"The university has teams of healthcare experts who are currently dealing with this outbreak and we thank them for their professionalism, generosity of spirit and for rising to the occasion and caring for our university community," said Zondo.
Zondo said they had begun contact tracing and decontamination where necessary. Access to the residence had also been limited.
"(We have) limited visits to the residence to ensure the safety of other students. Security has been increased to prevent visitors from entering this residence," said Zondo.
She said the majority of examinations had been scheduled to be written in January 2021, that most assessments were taking place online and that students who tested positive for Covid-19 would only return to campus once they had fully recovered.
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