Covid-19: 20 students positive in Ludhiana schools

LUDHIANA: Twenty school children tested positive for Covid-19 in the city on Tuesday. “Of them, 12 students are of Government High School, Kailash Nagar, and eight of Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Jodhewal Basti. They were tested through rapid antigen kits. Now, their samples have been taken for RT-PCR test for further confirmation,” said deputy district education officer Charanjeet Singh. He is also the nodal officer for Covid-19 testing in the city schools.
“Testing will be done rigorously at both private and government schools. Minimum 1,000 students will be tested in a day. The testing drive had started from government schools on Monday. It will now be held at private schools as well,” he added.
District epidemiologist Dr Ramesh Bhagat said, “We are tracing the contacts of the 20 students, who have been quarantined. As many as 1,200 samples of schoolchildren were collected on Monday and reports of eight came positive. On Tuesday, 1,551 students were tested and of them, 12 have contracted the virus.”
In Basti Jodhewal school, the eight students who have tested positive are of Class XI. A total of 127 students were present on Monday and 41 samples were collected. There are 45 staff members, most of whom have received the first dose of Covid vaccination. The school has 2,200 students on roll. About 500 to 550 kids attend the school daily. Its principal Rajesh Kumar said, “After receiving the information, the school was immediately closed for classes XI and XII. These two classes have a strength of 500 students and 100 to 150 of them have been coming to school. I have urged the health department to test other students as well. The kids are attending the school with the consent of their parents and we are following all the Covid protocols.”
A teacher said, “The school lacks Class IV employees for sanitization. The classes are sanitized after two days. Primary classes are being held, but not the senior secondary ones.”
Government High School, Kailash Nagar, principal Balwinder Kaur said, “In our school, 130 students of 523 were present and 32 were tested. Of them, 12 have tested positive—four are of Class IX and eight of Class X. I am worried for my staff and other students.”
Schools closed till August 24
Deputy commissioner Varinder Sharma said, “The schools are closed till August 24. The health department has been instructed to deploy a team for testing of school students. The schools will remain open only for testing.”