Contrary to social media reports insinuating that Zimbabwe has deferred the opening of schools by a further two weeks, Government spokesperson Ndabaningi ‘Nick’ Mangwana has dismissed the claims as fake.

Mangwana took to his official Twitter handle this Tuesday morning to set the record straight on the opening of scholls, tentatively set for next Monday.

The poorly evidenced reports which claimed that there has been a Covid19-induced two-week delay to the opening of the schools for Term 2 come amidst a spike in coronavirus cases.

“We have taken note of messages circulating on the WhatsApp platform alleging that the President has deferred the opening of schools by two weeks. That is not correct. Should there be a change regarding the opening of schools, Govt will make a formal announcement,” Mangwana wrote.

The decision regarding opening of schools is expected to be announced after today’s Cabinet meeting.

But National Covid-19 taskforce coordinator Dr Agnes Mahomva told the state media over the weekend that the issue of the opening of schools would be on Cabinet agenda as Government is led by science in implementing Covid-19 prevention measures.

“We are looking into it. You are aware there is a taskforce that is always guided by science. We look at data on the ground and we make decisions based on that data. This taskforce meets every Monday and Cabinet sits every Tuesday. You will definitely hear from that process,” she said.

Zwnews