BHUBANESWAR: A day after chief minister Naveen Patnaik warned of the possibility of a second wave of Covid-19 in the state after December 15, the school and mass education department on Thursday dropped the idea of allowing schools to reopen in November. The department was already in consultations with the stakeholders to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) for the schools to resume physical classes.
“We are not going to allow the schools to reopen now. After the chief minister asked everyone to remain cautious of a possible fresh wave of Covid-19 in the state next month, we shelved the proposal of allowing the schools to reopen for the time being. We have taken this decision in view of the safety of children and also to check further transmission of the virus. The process of preparing the SOP has been scrapped,” school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said. He added that the online classes will continue as usual.
On Wednesday, the CM urged people to exercise caution and strictly follow the Covid-19 guidelines during Diwali and the coming winter months. “Following the outbreak of a second wave of infection, several European countries have announced fresh lockdowns, which may hit life and livelihood badly,” the CM said after reviewing the pandemic situation in the state.
Schools in Odisha have been shut since mid-March when the state and the country went into lockdown to arrest the spread of the life-threatening infection. In the wake of the pandemic, online classes were started.