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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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Muzi Khumalo