2 schools in Vadodara, Navsari closed after students get Covid

A school in Vadodara and a school-cum-hostel in Navsari have been shut down after one student each of the institutions tested positive for Covid-19 on March 3.

Baroda High School in Alka-puri, Vadodara, where a Class 12 student tested positive will be closed till March 8, while Gand-highar Kacholi Balwantrai and Induben Nayak run Higher Seco-ndary School for Deaf and Dumb at Kacholi village in Gandevi taluka of Navsari district where a Class 11 student tested positive will be closed for 14 days from Thursday.

According to the Baroda High School management, the decision was taken after the student communicated that he tested positive after undergoing a test on March 2. Three teachers who came in contact with the student have been asked go in isolation and it was decided to close the school for six days.

A member of the school management said, “The decision to close the campus was independent. The authorities did not ask us to do so but we found it necessary to break the chain of transmission. Our online classes are functional and there is no hindrance to the syllabus. We have followed the guidelines but it is unfortunate that it still happened. The school will reopen next week and we will continue to be on guard.”

The management said that close contacts of the student had tested negative but they were being asked to monitor symptoms.

Vadodara Medical Officer for Health, Dr Devesh Patel said, “There is no rule in place for closing schools if anyone tests positive. It is their decision. Our task at VMC is only to do contact-tracing… It is not case-specific and is done regularly by health teams in the field. The school has to close for sanitising the premises for a few hours and isolate contacts of positive patients.”

The Navsari school has a total of 45 students who stay in the hostel and study in Class 9 to 12.

On Wednesday, all the students were sent back to their homes, while on Thursday, the school authorities sanitised the premises.

In the past few days, a few of the students complained of cough and cold, following which, the school authorities got all the students tested at a primary health care centre.

Those found as suspicious cases after antigen test were sent for RT-PCR test, in which one student tested positive.

School prinicipal Charmi Desai said, “After one student tested positive, we called the parents of all 45 students and told them to take their children to their homes. Administrative staff and teachers have tested negative. We have sanitised the entire premises. We were following the standard operating procedures and were taking necessary precautions.”

Navsari district health officer Dr Mehul Dailywala said, “One of the students from Udhna area in Surat city tested positive. We have told the school authorities to sanitise the entire premises. The students will now stay at their homes for 14 days and then return to school.”

Navsari district education officer Rohitkumar Chaudhary said, “We have told the school authorities to send the students back to their homes for 14 days… We have also intimated other schools and hostels in the district to strictly follow Covid guidelines… we will carry out surprise checks.”