SALEM: Within two days of the reopening of schools in Tamil Nadu, a class XII girl student of the government model higher secondary school at Periya Krishnapuram in Salem tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday.
Following this, the school and the hostel where the girl was staying were closed. Health officials have taken RT-PCR tests for students in the hostel and were also planning to test other students from the school.
The 17-year-old girl is a resident of Karumandurai in Salem district. She developed Covid-19 symptoms before coming to school on Tuesday. Later, she was taken for the Covid-19 test at Thumbal Primary Health Centre where the health officials told her to go home.
But the girl’s parents sent her to the school hostel where she stayed for the past couple of days. On Thursday, she tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to Attur Government Hospital for treatment.
Following this, authorities have now closed both the school as well as the hostel and carried out disinfection work.
Health officials in the district have taken RT-PCR swab samples of 36 children who were staying in the hostel. They are also planning to take the swap sample of other students of the school.
Salem district Deputy Director (DD) for Health services Dr. R Selvakumar said, "The health officials have clearly instructed her not to go to the school due to the symptoms. But defying the instructions, she went to the hostel and stayed there. We are enquiring why the girl's parents did not take her home."
"We identified six of her close contacts and took their swabs for testing. As a precautionary measure, we are sending all the 36 hostel boarders to their homes. We collected these students' addresses and health officials will monitor them regularly," he added.
"On Wednesday, we had deployed 36 health teams and contacted special camps in various schools in the district and tested 13,000 students. We are taking all precautions for the students' safety."