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8 days after schools reopen in Punjab, 20 students test positive for Covid-19
Two schools in Ludhiana where the infected students were detected have been shut for 14 days. Deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said the administration will henceforth use RT-PCR facilities in schools as well.
Eight days after schools for all classes reopened in Punjab, 20 students from two schools in Ludhiana have tested positive for the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease.
Deputy commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma said eight students of Jodhewal Basti School were found to have contracted the virus on Monday. On Tuesday, 1,560 samples of students of Kailash Nagar School were collected. Of these, 12 students of classes 9 and 10 tested positive. “Both schools have been shut for 14 days,” Sharma was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Rajesh Kumar, principal of Jodhewal Basti School, said the samples were collected from 41 students of class 11 on Monday. Of these, eight were found infected with the virus. “We have asked students of classes 11 and 12 to remain in quarantine for 14 days. The school will remain shut till August 24,” he further said.
Stating other schools in the industrial city will continue to “function normally,” Sharma said the administration will conduct tests of more than 1,500 students each day in Ludhiana and will also use RT-PCR facilities in schools, henceforth.
On July 31, the Punjab government announced the reopening of schools for all classes in the state from August 2 with proper maintenance of Covid-19 protocols. A notice issued by the state home affairs and justice department said the department of school education will issue instructions on Covid-19 norms that all schools need to mandatorily adhere to.
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“District authorities shall also continue to ensure strict implementation of all the extant directives of Union ministry of home affairs/state government on Covid appropriate behaviour including social distancing, wearing of face masks, etc,” the notice read.
The Punjab government had already given its nod to the reopening of schools for classes 10 to 12 from July 26 before allowing all classes to restart on August 2. Online classes will also continue for students who are unable to attend physical classes.
Earlier, Punjab Assembly Leader of Opposition and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Harpal Singh Cheema had sought to know on the basis of which “report of doctors and education experts” did the state government make “such a big decision” as the matter pertains to the life of 60.5 lakh children – constituting 20 per cent of the state’s population.
