Ludhiana: Just two weeks of reopening of schools after months of lockdown amid the Covid-19 pandemic, two government schools in Ludhiana confirmed that their 20 students had contracted the infection. Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma ordered the suspension of in-person classes at the two schools till August 24.
80, random samples were collected from two schools for rapid antigen tests on Monday, according to the health official. “Among them, eight students tested positive from one school and 12 from the other. All students and teachers of both schools will be tested now,” said Dr. Ramesh Bhagat, district epidemiologist. However, all other schools will remain open to collect samples from all teachers and students.
Rajesh Kumar, principal of the government school, said that out of 500 students enrolled in the school, only 150 were attending offline classes. The school is running in two shifts, classes 6-10 to attend the morning shift, and those of Classes 11 and 12 come in the afternoon shift. The positive students are all from Class 11. The infected 20 students are under home quarantine.
The state started collecting at least 10,000 samples from schools, as the reopening of schools would be considered a trigger of the second Covid wave.
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