Chhattisgarh COVID-19: 17 girls at Chhattisgarh school test positive; reports of 476 students awaited
At least 17 girls of Classes VIII and X of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Bhupdevpur in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district have tested positive for COVID-19, an official said on Saturday. According to reports Raigarh Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr. S. N. Keshari informed that the 17 girls have been shifted from the hostel to a guesthouse and the entire school has been declared as a ‘containment zone’.
Samples of other students have been collected, that includes 176 girls and 300 boys from the school. The reports of the remaining students are awaited. It is suspected that last Sunday some parents came to meet the students and one of them was infected. The whole school campus has been declared a containment zone and infected students have been isolated.
Raigarh Chief Medical and Health Officer informed the media that “”The reports of the 13 girls returned positive on Friday and the remaining four on Saturday. Samples of 176 girls studying in Classes VI to XII were tested on Friday and that of 300 boys on Saturday. These results are awaited,” he said. “Last Sunday, parents of some of the children had come to meet them. One of the parents was infected. The health department has set up a camp to curb the spread and monitor the situation”
The local officials informed that Raigarh district has also led the daily addition tally in Chhattisgarh on December 18, 19, 21 and 22. As on Friday, Chhattisgarh has a caseload of 10,07,540, including 13,597 deaths. No case of omicron has been reported so far in the state.
Amid the Omicron scare, the Chhattisgarh government has issued fresh guidelines on Friday for holding religious and social functions. The new guidelines have been laid down in a letter issued by the state’s General Administration Department (GAD) to Divisional Commissioners, Inspector Generals of Police (IGP), District Collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs).
“As per the order, to contain the spread of Omicron, a new variant of coronavirus, functions to be held during social and religious festivals and New Year will have an upper limit of 50 per cent of the venue,” an official said.