Covid-19: 262 students, 160 teachers infected as schools reopen in AP

VIJAYAWADA: As many as 262 students of class 9 and 10 and 160 teachers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh after schools reopened on November 2. 

Classes resumed for class 9 and 10 and intermediate (second year) three days ago across the State following physical distancing norms.

Revealing the details, commissioner for school education V Chinna Veerabhadrudu, however, said that the figures are not alarming. "An average of four lakh students are attending school across the state every day for the past four days.

This means that the number of students who tested positive is not even 1% of the total number of students who attended the school. In the case of teachers also, as on Wednesday, 99,000 teachers, out of 1.11 lakh, have attended the schools in the past three days and only 160 have tested positive," he explained.

Veerabhadrudu said that in terms of teachers, the tests were done before the schools were reopened and in most of the cases the results have come now -- after schools reopened. 

"In the case of students, we cannot conclude that they caught the virus because they started going to school. There are two reasons -- first, all the schools are found to be following every rule prescribed under the Covid-19 protocols, and second, in maximum cases the students' parents are coming to drop and pick up them, and barely any students are going home in groups on their own," said Veerabhadrudu. 

A total of 9.75 lakh students have registered for class 9 and 10. Of them, around four lakh have been attending school.

When asked, the official stated that as of now there are no plans to change the school reopening process. "It is too early to make any such decision. We have to consider the students who could not afford online classes and therefore, suffered the most. We will observe for a few more days and then take necessary decisions," Veerabhadrudu said.