Uttar Pradesh: Schools up to class 8 to stay shut till 11 April amid Covid surge
UP reported 2,600 new Covid-19 cases and nine fatalities on Thursday, pushing the state's infection tally to 6,19,783 and the death toll to 8,820
The Uttar Pradesh administration has decided to extend till 11 April the closure of all schools for students of classes 1 to 8 in the wake of spiking Covid-19 cases.
The government had earlier shut the schools from 24 March till 31 March and later extended it till 4 April. All other educational institutions where exams are not underway were also closed for the duration.
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The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during a review meeting at his 5-Kalidas Marg residence.
The CM had instructed the officials to accelerate the coronavirus vaccination.
He said the vaccination should be conducted as per the guidelines and priority decided by the Centre and added that government employees who are to be inoculated should be allowed an off on the day they get the jab.
The CM said similar arrangements for leave for private-sector workers should also be made.
He asked the officials to step up testing with a focus on old-age homes, orphanages, residential schools and other such places.
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5 min read . 01:42 PM ISTAdityanath said the dedicated Covid hospitals set up earlier should be reactivated.
Cases in Uttar Pradesh
The announcement of school closures comes up in the backdrop of Uttar Pradesh reporting 2,600 new Covid-19 cases and nine fatalities on Thursday, pushing the state's infection tally to 6,19,783 and the death toll to 8,820.
The number of active cases in the state has gone up to 11,918, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said, adding that 6,722 patients are in home isolation, 287 in private hospitals and the rest in government facilities.
A total of 5,99,045 people have so far recovered from the infection and been discharged from hospitals in the state, he said.
So far over 3.49 crore samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the state, including over 1.24 lakh on Wednesday, Prasad said.
He said almost half of the new infections are being reported from rural areas at present and stressed on activating the 'gram nigrani samitis' and 'mohalla nigrani samitis' to control the spread of the virus.
With inputs from agencies.
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