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Over 600 students contract Covid after schools reopen in HP
Seventy-eight students, including 46 in Kangra of HP, were tested positive for Covid on Monday alone
The rising cases of Covid among schoolchildren in Himachal Pradesh have started giving jitters to the authorities.
As on Monday, 634 students of government and private schools had been found infected with the virus since the schools reopened on September 27.
Seventy-eight students, including 46 in Kangra, were tested positive on Monday alone.
Hemraj Bairwa, mission director, national health mission, said Sirmaur is the only district where no student has been found infected.
Kangra has the highest 219 cases of Covid reported among the schoolchildren to date followed by Hamirpur, where 200 students have been tested positive. A total of 113 students have been detected positive in Una, 30 in Mandi, 22 each in Bilaspur and Shimla, 14 in Kinnaur, eight in Kullu, four in Solan and one each in Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti.
Till Monday, 305 students had recovered while the remaining ones were in home isolation. One 13-year-old student of Government Senior Secondary School, Saleti, in Rakkar tehsil of Kangra had died of the contagion on October 21.
Bairwa said the deceased child probably contracted the infection when she attended an event with her parents. She had developed the symptoms like fever and sore throat after the event. She was not attending the school since October 12 and admitted to Hamirpur government hospital after her condition deteriorated.
It is noteworthy that in the sero survey conducted few days ago, more than 61% children in the age group of 10-17 years were found to have antibodies against the virus.
Bairwa said the teachers and parents should not get complacent and be alert against the virus. The pandemic is not over yet and there is a need to take adequate precautions while attending social gatherings like wedding ceremonies and festivals, he added.
He urged teachers, parents, and elders to encourage children to wear masks, wash hands regularly, use sanitisers and follow the rule of physical distancing.
In the wake of sudden surge, the state government has called a review meeting on November 8. Currently, only those schools where infections were reported are closed down for 48 hours.
Meanwhile, Himachal’s Covid caseload rose to 2,23,145 on Tuesday with 255 people tested positive for the virus.
The active case tally climbed to 1,761 while recoveries reached 2,17,645 after 149 people recuperated. The death toll has mounted to 3,723 after two patients succumbed to the contagion in Kangra.
In Jammu and Kashmir, 97 people tested positive for the virus and one person death died due to the disease on Tuesday.
The number of patients who were cured in the UT was 77 with active cases reaching 854.
The government’s daily health bulletin also said that 63,426 vaccine doses were administered.
The number of people who have recovered reached 3,26,510, prompting the recovery rate to mount to 98.40%. Since the pandemic started, the overall cases in J&K have reached 3,31,795 and the death toll stands at 4,431.
