A day after a cluster of 14 COVID-19 cases were detected at the Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS) in Mancherial, another cluster of 34 cases were detected among students of Telangana Minority Residential School located in Bandlaguda, Nagole, on Tuesday.
Medchal-Malkajgiri Health officials said after receiving information that some students at the school had developed symptoms of COVID-19, they conducted tests and found the 34 students to be positive for coronavirus. While 10 teachers were tested, their tests turned up negative. Tests on 12 teachers who were not present on Tuesday will be conducted on Wednesday.
A little over 160 students stay at the residential school. Those who tested negative were sent home. The 34 COVID-positive students have been isolated at the school itself. Home isolation kits were handed over to them.
More in Mancherial
Health teams in Mancherial found 35 more cases in the Mancherial ZPHS cluster on Tuesday. Till Monday, 13 teachers, a cook and a student had tested positive for the infection.
When testing of their contacts was taken up on Tuesday, 29 more students, and six parents were found to be COVID-positive. With that, the cluster has increased to 50. A few more of their contacts would be tested on Wednesday. Officials said all the patients were asymptomatic.
The school will be closed for three days and the campus will be sanitised. Classes might resume thereafter.
Mancherial District Medical and Health Officer M. Neeraja said their teams are tracking the condition of all the positive cases every day, and they would be shifted to a government hospital in case their condition warrants medical attention.
Dr Neeraja has urged people eligible to take COVID-19 vaccine to step forward and get immunised. “Others have to continue wearing masks, avoid unnecessary public gatherings and public functions,” the DMHO appealed.