Telangana: Going by the news reports, it is clear that spread of Covid-19 is happening more from the educational institutes. It is not just residential schools, even medical colleges and other day-scholar schools are turning out to be hotspots for virus spread in the state. Despite these places turning out to be the super spreaders, the state government is in no mood to close the schools and shift to online classes!
Telangana
The numbers of Covid-19 infections are increasing and main reason being the educational institutes functioning fully. The Hyderabad campus of Mahindra University was closed earlier in November after 25 students and five staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. Prior to that, around 29 students of a residential school and junior college for girls in Wyra town of Khammam district tested positive for the Covid pandemic.
On December 2, another cluster was found in a government residential school in Sangareddy, when 24 students at Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Backward Classes Welfare Residential School at Indresham tested positive. A few days earlier, in the same district, 48 students of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Telangana Backward Classes Welfare Residential School at Muthangi village had also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Then came the big news of 43 medicos in Karimnagar testing positive for the Covid-19. Karimnagar District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr Juveria confirmed that 33 students of the Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences have tested positive so far, while the remaining cases were among staff members associated with the college.
Even as numerous reports are coming from across the state, Education Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy has refused to call for closure of schools. “There is no alarm now. No school is affected. Covid-19 outbreak has been reported only at a few hostels but we are taking all steps to contain the spread of the virus. At the moment, we do not have any proposal to shut down the schools.” The Minister said that children have lost a year due to Covid-19 and the government does not want to repeat the same situation as it could lead to a learning gap among kids.
With Omicron, the new variant hitting the headlines, parents are all schools are demanding for the schools restart online classes. Many are not willing to send their children to schools since these places have turned into hotspots for Covid-19. If the numbers increase over the next two weeks, there is a chance of government relooking at its decision with regards to online classes, but until then children have to adhere to strict Covid-19 rules to keep themselves safe!