Schools shut in Maharashtra’s Palghar after students, teachers contract Covid-19

Thirty students and a teacher from the Nandore Government Ashram School tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this week.

Authorities in Palghar of Maharashtra, the country’s worst-hit state, closed all educational institutions in the district till further orders after students and a teacher of a residential school tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). “All government schools, colleges, hostels and private schools in Palghar District to remain closed till further orders,” Palghar’s deputy collector Manik Gursal said, according to news agency ANI.

The sealed Nandore ashramshala in Palghar from where 31 cases were reported on Tuesday. (HT PHOTO) (HT_PRINT)

News agency PTI cited an official from the health department as saying on Wednesday that 30 students and a teacher from the Nandore Government Ashram School tested positive for Covid-19. The official from the taluka medical office said that the cases came to light after a couple of students displayed symptoms of the viral infection earlier this week, PTI reported. Of the 193 students of the school, 30 tested positive for the infection on Tuesday, he said. The official also said that one of the teachers also contracted the infection.

The school was declared a containment zone and a notice has been displayed accordingly at the entrance of the facility following the detection of the cases. Infected students and the teacher are currently undergoing treatment at a Covid-19 centre in the district, PTI said. Last week, as many as 79 people, including students, teachers and other staff, of three ashram schools in Jawhar tested positive for Covid-19.

Palghar district has reported 46,967 cases of the coronavirus disease and 1,207 people have succumbed so far. Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 23,179 Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, the highest daily infection count so far this year. The western state reported more than 23,000 Covid-19 cases in September last year. According to the state’s health bulletin, 24,886 Covid-19 cases were recorded on September 11, 2020, and there were 24,619 infections on September 17.

India recorded 35,871 new Covid-19 cases, the highest single-day rise in 102 days, which took the infection tally to 11,474,605, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday morning. The country registered 36,011 infections on December 6 last year. Its active caseload reached 252,364, registering an increase for the eighth consecutive day, the health ministry’s data showed. The death toll increased to 159,216 with 172 new fatalities between Wednesday and Thursday morning, it also showed.