As many as 575 students and 829 teachers have tested positive for Covid-19 in Andhra Pradesh since the schools re-opened in the state on November 2.
Schools in the state’s West Godavari district have reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases, with 262 teachers testing positive for the virus. In Visakhapatnam, a total of 52 teachers out of 4,527 have tested positive so far.
The rising number of Covid-19 cases has triggered widespread panic among students and parents.
The state government reopened schools for students of classes 9 and 10. Now, the state government is further planning to reopen schools for students in classes 6, 7 and 8 from November 23, and for students in classes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 from December 14.
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Despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the state’s school education commissioner V. Chinna Veerabhadrudu has claimed that the situation is “not very alarming”.
“This is not a very alarming number and most of them are asymptomatic. They were immediately sent to quarantine as per the health protocol and their condition is being monitored regularly,” Hindustan Times quoted Veerabhadrudu as saying.
Veerabhadrudu also said that the percentage of the Covid-19 positive cases among students and teachers was well below the normal level when compared to the overall Covid-19 positive cases in the state.
“Teachers and students should not panic. Since all precautions are being taken by the department, we are confident the number of positive cases will come down gradually,” he said.
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As many as 70,790 out of 1,89,148 teachers in the state have undergone tests for Covid-19 so far. Also, about 95,763 students have been tested.
Out of the 9.75 lakh students enrolled in classes 9 and 10, at least 3.93 lakh students have turned up in school, ever since classes resumed on Monday.
