Delhi govt issues coronavirus circular in city schools

New Delhi: An 11-step hand-washing guideline with illustrations, ‘dos and don’ts’, and a general advisory are among the details in a Delhi government circular that

New Delhi: An 11-step hand-washing guideline with illustrations, ‘dos and don’ts’, and a general advisory are among the details in a Delhi government circular that has been issued in schools, directing authorities to take preventive measures against the spread of the novel coronavirus, senior government officials said on Sunday.

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The circulars were issued on February 20 — four days after 17 people, out of several passengers who had arrived in Delhi from China and other countries affected by the coronavirus before screenings at the airport began around mid-January, were found “symptomatic for the infection” and hospitalised.

Delhi health department officials said they have traced many such passengers. According to data shared by the department, till February 13, over 5,700 such passengers were approached after being informed by authorities of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

The sensitisation measures to be taken by the Directorate of Education (DoE) in Delhi — under the first such circular issued by the Delhi government — will involve distributing pamphlets among students, putting up advisories and illustrations on notice boards and reading out the ‘dos and don’ts’ after the morning assembly sessions, once the new academic session begins on April 1.

Delhi has around 1,040 government and government-aided schools. Currently, annual examinations are on in all of them. “We are aware that the novel coronavirus is reported from China and 24 other countries and there are a few positive travel-related cases in India also. Though much is not known about the disease dynamics, it is evident that there is human-to-human transmission. As of now, there is no drug or vaccine available to manage this disease. Hence preventive measures become crucial to stop spread of this disease,” the circular read.

It further said, “Therefore, all the heads of government schools, government-aided and recognised schools under the DoE are directed to sensitise the students and staff members during the morning assembly for creating awareness about preventive interventions such as frequent hand wash, respiratory etiquette (using handkerchief over mouth while coughing/sneezing, use of tissue paper or using the sleeve of shirt covering upper arm, staying away from school when sick, avoiding public gathering etc.) will help in preventing/reducing transmission of not only this disease, but also large number of other communicable diseases, notably flu like illnesses.”

The first such advisory was issued by the Union ministry of human resource and development in all central government schools across the country on February 5 – three days after the first confirmed case of coronavirus had emerged in India. It was reported in the southern state of Kerala.

So far, around 79,000 cases have been reported worldwide, of which around 2,450 have resulted in deaths.

INSET

New Delhi (PTI): Social robot ‘Pepe’ will nudge children studying in schools run by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee (DSGMC) to adopt better hygiene practices. ‘Pepe’ developed by researchers from the University of Glasgow in collaboration with the Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham University in India will be used in DSGMC schools to give a fresh approach to hygiene, said Manjinder Singh Sirsa, president of the Committee.

“Pepe robots each costing around Rs 7000 will be mounted on the wall above hand washing stations near wash rooms to inspire nearly 20,000 children studying in coeducation institutions to wash their hands properly,” he said adding, the speaking robot will interact with children as they will pass by the handwash areas and encourage them to practise proper hand washing, Sirsa said.