As many as 50 students from two different schools in South Kashmir tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, prompting the authorities to shut these institutions as contact-tracing programme was initiated.
At least 36 students of primary classes of Noorani Public School in Khull area of Kulgam tested positive on Wednesday. The district health services conducted a random testing at the school after six of the teachers from its senior wing were found infected with COVID-19 on Monday. The senior and junior schools are located nearly 2 km away from each other.
When contacted, Block Medical Officer of Dham Hanjipora Shugufta Salam told PTI that she had carried out random sampling in the senior wing that prompted her to initiate the same in the junior wing of the school.
“We found that 36 students up to class 5 were positive. Even a grandparent who had come to collect his ward from the school has tested positive for COVID-19,” she said.
The medical officer, who won laurels for running a successful campaign against COVID-19 last year and was also awarded, said she has already initiated a contact-tracing programme and the parents of all the children would be tested on Thursday.
She said the Health Department will launch a door-to-door drive to trace all the contacts of the students and conduct tests.
The school has been shut for a week as a precautionary measure, she added.
In another school in adjacent Anantnag district of South Kashmir, 14 students tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Random sampling of students was carried out at the Government High School, Kathsoo in the district, where 14 children were detected with COVID-19. The school has been ordered to remain closed for a week, officials said.
In another case, two staff members at Kothibagh Higher Secondary School in Srinagar have tested positive for the Coronavirus, they said.
The institution has been closed till Saturday, they added. ( PTI )
