Journalism of Courage
This is an archive article published on March 2, 2021
Haryana: 54 students of Karnal’s Sainik school test positive for Covid
“All the students are in the age group of 16-18 years and were in the school hostel. They had returned from their homes after the school reopened,” Karnal's chief medical officer Dr. Yogesh Sharma told The Indian Express.
Education Minister Kanwar Pal has directed private schools to update their MIS immediately.(File/ picture for representation)
Days after schools were reopened across Haryana, at least 54 students of Karnal’s Kunjpura Sainik School tested positive for Covid-19 Tuesday.
“All the students who tested positive are in the age group of 16-18 years and were in the school hostel. The hostel has been declared a containment zone and adequate Covid-19 protocols are being followed,” Karnal’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Yogesh Sharma told The Indian Express.
The cases were discovered when samples of 390 teachers, staff members and students were taken after three students of the school had tested positive Monday.
Talking about the health condition of the students found positive, Dr. Sharma added, “All the students are absolutely fine. Barring 3-4 who are having mild fever, the remaining are asymptomatic. Adequate precautions are being taken to identify if there were more students who might have got the infection.”
“The Covid-19 cases in Karnal had almost touched zero, but with the students testing positive, there appears to have been a fresh surge. Adequate precautions are being followed and steps required for safety and security of the children and staff members are being taken. I again appeal to people that Covid-19 is not over and they need to take adequate precautions and must strictly follow safety protocols and social distancing guidelines. Everybody needs to be extra careful,” Dr Sharma added.
Soon after the samples tested positive, teams of the health department and the district administration reached the school and sanitised the entire area.
Karnal Deputy Commissioner Nishant Yadav said, “The school building and hostels have been declared as a containment zone and adequate steps are being taken to contain further spread of the virus.”
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The Sainik schools are run by the Sainik Schools Society under the Ministry of Defence. The students stay in hostels. Haryana’s education department had reopened schools for classes IX-XII in December last year, and for classes III-V from February 24 this year.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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