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This year will be remembered as the year the COVID-19 epidemic almost brought the

world to a standstill. China was the first to be severely affected, but it was only a matter

of time before positive cases of the disease appeared across the world, and Europe and

the United States fast became no-go zones. The novel coronavirus arrived a little later

in South Africa, with the first case announced on 5 March. The patient was from the

KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, an hour away from MUT by car.

For MUT, this first case was too close to home. Having

tracked the virus’ progress in Executive Management

Committee meetings since mid-February, the

University now sprang into action to protect the

wellbeing of its staff and students.

The first step was for the University’s Health Services

to deliver a presentation to the EMC, the Student

Affairs Management Committee and the University

Senate. This was to enable the decision-makers to

understand what the threat was about and thereafter

cascade the information down to staff and students.

An MUT COVID-19 Task Team was then set up to

advise the Vice-Chancellor on the disease and to

map out various strategies that the University could

adopt to protect its people. The Task Team, chaired

by Mr Muzi Khumalo, senior director: Operations

consists of representatives from various divisions of

the University: Resources & Planning, Student Affairs,

Occupational Health & Safety, Operations, Health

Services, Marketing & Communications (MarComms)

and Environmental Health. The MUT COVID-19 Task

Team must be commended for its early interventions

to safeguard the lives of students and staff.

MUT responds to COVID-19 to protect staff and students

COVID-19 in focus

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M U T

S P I R I T

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J A N U A R Y - M A R C H 2 0 2 0

Muzi Khumalo