Himachal: 79 students of a boarding school test positive of Covid in Mandi
Shimla: Many, having believed that the Covid-19 is on the decline in Himachal Pradesh, got a shock of sorts this week after 79 students and three staff members of a boarding school were tested positive.
The school, which is run by a philanthropic organisation for the poorest of the poor children, was reopened only some time back and again has to be closed following the detection of such a huge number of cases at one place.
Confirming this, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Mandi Dr Devinder Sharma said beside students, three staff members have also contracted the virus and Dr Vijay Memorial Senior Secondary Boarding School in Dharampur town has been converted into a containment zone.
The school has been closed down and all students have been quarantined to check the spread of the virus. There are currently 130 students in the boarding school from Classes 9-12. Rahul Jain, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Dharampur) said students have been admitted to the civil hospital. A team of the health department has already taken samples of other students and examined their health conditions.
"The school has been made a micro-containment zone after a cluster of cases," says CMO, Mandi. This is the third case during the year when students of a boarding school were found infected by the coronavirus.
The schools in Himachal Pradesh had remained closed after the second Covid wave but boarding schools were allowed to function on an assurance to ensure full protection of the children against the virus.
The case has come as a shock as the state Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced only a day before about the proposed reopening of the schools after September 25.
"The Covid cases are on decline and parents are asking for reopening of the schools to ensure that the students –who had been out of the class don't suffer loss for a prolonged closure of the schools. We will review the situation in the cabinet meeting on September 24 and take a call " he told Millennium Post. For residential schools, a standard operating procedure was developed by the Department of Education to prevent any spread of Covid-19.
He said, "We expect school authorities to follow those protocols. Our colleges are already functional with 50 per cent capacity."
The total number of active cases in Himachal Pradesh is 1,612 while 3,641 persons have died in the state due to Covid. The daily reporting of the cases, which was between 140 to 170, has also gone up suddenly to 200 during the past three days.
Chief Minister, who was at Dodra-Kawar, one of state's remotest sub-division in Shimla, across 13,000 feet high Chanshal Pass, which remained closed six to seven months due to snow, took along with him 2,500 doses of vaccine for completing the second dose for the eligible population of this landlocked belt by November 2021.
