Covid-19 news: Haryana, Punjab shuts educational institutions till March 31; and more

“In view of a surge in cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the neighbouring state, the Department of School Education, Haryana, has decided that all government as well as private schools in Sonepat, Rohtak, Jhajjar, Faridabad and Gurugram districts will remain closed till 31.03.2020 with immediate effect, except for holding examinations,” states the order, issued by Dr Mahavir Singh, principal secretary to the Haryana government, School Education Department, Chandigarh.

“Students will attend school only to take board exams, annual exams and assessment exams as per previous schedule. However, all teaching and non-teaching staff members will attend school as usual,” it states, adding that schools in the remaining districts “shall function as per normal schedule”.

In another order issued Friday, the Deputy Director Cadet Corps for Director General Higher Education, Haryana, has similarly directed that “all universities and colleges situated in Haryana will be closed till March 31, 2020, as a precautionary measure”.

Meanwhile, Punjab Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said, “Holidays have been declared in all government and private schools in the state till March 31 as a precautionary measure.”

Punjab’s Higher Education Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bjawa said the government has decided to close all government, private colleges and universities till March 31.

Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, who is administrator of UT Chandigarh, held a meeting here to review the situation in the wake of Covid-19. The Chandigarh administration has invoked the Epidemic Disease Act to enforce preventive steps to prevent any spread of coronavirus infection.

Earlier, the Haryana government on Thursday had declared novel coronavirus an epidemic and Health Minister Anil Vij had advised people to avoid large gatherings.

The latest directions came even as educational institutions, in the absence of any directions from the Haryana government, started taking decisions to suspend classes on their own. At many schools in Gurgaon, officials said classes will continue online.

Principal of The Shri Ram School, Moulsari, Manisha Malhotra, said: “This is the term-end period, so only students who are giving board examinations are coming to school. The new term was to start on March 23, with orientation on March 20. We have decided to do all that online, and school is shut till March 31. However, we will be conducting classes online through Zoom. We have done our reporting and parent-teacher meeting also on Zoom this year because we did not want to have crowds congregating here. These are precautionary measures.”

At the Heritage Xperiential Learning School, similarly, classes had been suspended since March 9 but the institution has been using “virtual learning programs” to continue lessons. “We have been working on flipping classrooms, setting up learning management systems and establishing online teaching and learning for almost three years now. While many of the platforms were there, we never got the maximum out of them because circumstances did not demand the shift,” said Principal Neena Kaul.

“Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention and our teachers and students have grabbed this opportunity with both hands. In our initial runs of our virtual learning programme this week, we have had some wonderful feedback from parents, and this is just the beta version,” she added.

At Shalom Hills International School, Principal Atul Bhatt said, “Classes at our school have been suspended for almost 10 days now as a precautionary measure against coronavirus. Only examinations are being conducted. There are no gatherings, assemblies or prayers. All parent-teacher meetings and results are being conveyed online.”

At the Blue Bells Group of Schools, meanwhile, officials said classes have been suspended, along with assemblies, trips, events, and any other planned gatherings. The school had also, in the last few days, placed alcohol-based sanitisers at all entries of the schools and medical rooms.

“The school is taking all precautions and keeping a close watch on the situation. If any further measures are required, we will definitely take them,” said Dr Alka Saxena, Deputy Director (Health & Wellness), Blue Bells Group of Schools.

Haryana bans public rallies, sporting events to contain coronavirus spread

Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Friday ordered a ban on public rallies, big religious gatherings and sporting events that attract crowds to contain the spread of coronavirus, two days after the state declared the contagious disease an epidemic.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the situation in the state in the wake of coronavirus scare, Vij, who also holds the Health department portfolio, said, “We took some important decisions. We have banned all public rallies, including political rallies, with immediate effect. Any large social, religious or sporting events, which attract crowds, have also been banned till further orders”.

He said 100 health camps will be held across the state to generate awareness about Covid-19 and free medicines, including ayurvedic and homeopathic, will be distributed among people.

Two labs — at PGIMS Rohtak and BPS Khanpur Kalan Medical College — have been selected by Haryana government for testing for coronavirus. Apart from this, 298 isolation wards with 1,328 beds have been set up for the treatment and monitoring of patients. For quarantine, 219 rooms and 1,040 beds have been identified in various institutions.

Vij also directed officers to assign two special ambulances in every district, set up awareness camps by AYUSH department, attach each district to nearby medical college, which has all the facilities and equipment including ventilators in order to treat any suspected patient.

“Although there is no patient of coronavirus in Haryana till March 12, 2020, those people who had returned from Italy and were found positive for the virus have been admitted in Gurugram. A total of 1,754 persons from Haryana who returned from foreign countries have been kept under observation, out of which 44 blood samples of people who showed symptoms of the infection were taken for testing. Reports of 40 people were found negative and reports of 4 samples are yet to come,” Vij said in a statement.

On Wednesday, the state government had issued various regulations under the Haryana Epidemic Disease, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020, to contain the spread of coronavirus. These regulations came into force with immediate effect and will remain valid for a period of one year. (ENS)