Andhra Pradesh: 262 Students test COVID-19 positive in three days after reopening of schools

Three days after the reopening of schools in Andhra Pradesh, as many as 262 students and 160 teachers were tested positive for Coronavirus on Thursday.

“The figure is not alarming when compared to the number of students attending the schools, though every care is being taken to ensure COVID-19 safety protocols are in place in every institution,” Commissioner of School Education V Chinna Veerabhadrudu was quoted saying by www.timesnownews.com.

He reiterated that Yesterday (November 4) around four lakh students attended schools. There were 262 positive cases. It is not even 0.1 per cent. It is not correct to say that they were affected due to their attendance to schools. We ensure that each school room has only 15 or 16 students.

According to data, there are 9.75 lakh students registered for Class 9 and 10 in the state out of which 3.93 lakh attended, out of 1.11 lakh teachers, over 99,000 thousand attended the educational institutions on Wednesday.

While out of 1.11 lakh teachers about 160 teachers tested positive, the attendance of students to schools was hovering about 40 per cent as parents are still apprehensive of the killer virus despite tight measures being taken by the government.

Here what official statement says

All government schools and colleges reopened from November 2 for classes 9, 10 and intermediate. Classes 9 and 10 and Intermediate first and second year would function on alternate days only for half-a-day. Classes 6, 7 and 8 would begin on November 23 while classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 would start from December 14.

All the educational institutions have remained closed since March when the national lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 was announced.