Telangana: 12 teachers among 14 test +ve in Mancherial govt school

HYDERABAD: Twelve teachers were among 14 persons who tested positive for Covid-19 virus in a Zilla Parishad girls high school in Mancherial on Monday, triggering a massive contact tracing exercise.
Authorities said initially swab samples of one teacher turned positive and the rest of the confirmed cases were among contacts tested for the virus. A higher-class student and an employee, who cooks midday meals for students, were the other two who tested positive.
“We have started the exercise of contact tracing 400 students, 50 staffers and their families,” district education officer (DEO) Mancherial, S Venkateshwarlu said.
As news of one teacher testing positive spread early on Monday, the number of students attending school came down.
“Altogether 55 contacts of the first teacher were tested on Monday and 14 were found to be positive. Tomorrow, we will test other students and their family members as well. Also, the school will be sanitised,” said Dr M Neeraja, district medical and health officer (DMHO), Mancherial, said. All the 14 are currently stable and are in home quarantine, the DMHO said.
Reacting to the news, Dr Sanjeev Singh Yadav, national secretary, Indian Medical Association, said the virus was spreading in schools basically due to cramping more children in less-ventilated rooms and not maintaining distance.
“With so many holidays, it’s difficult to ensure that children don’t talk or discuss things with each other. Since most schools are run from houses, they can as well do online classes as a preventive measure,” he said.
Alarmed at the incident and another three positive cases reported from a school in Secunderabad, experts have sounded an alert for schools to take adequate precautions.
“Since more Covid-19 cases are being reported in Telangana and in neighbouring states, there needs to be alertness, especially in schools. The schools present in Covid hotspots need to take extra precautions such as physical distancing, masks and limited students in a class,” said Prof Subodh Kandamuthan, director, Centre for Healthcare Management, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI).
“Awareness among students and a community approach is required to tide over the crisis,” he added.