A number of private residential and boarding schools in the Nilgiris have reported COVID-19 cases among students over the last month, revealed School Education Department officials.
Recently, seven students at a boarding school in Udhagamandalam tested positive for COVID-19, leading to the school’s closure for a week, the officials said. A. Nasrudeen, Chief Education Officer (Nilgiris), said that over the last month, five boarding schools reported COVID-19 cases amid their student-body.
“Schools in Udhagamandalam and Kotagiri have reported cases among students. Instructions were given to close the schools temporarily, while the Health Department tested all the students for COVID-19,” said Mr. Nasrudeen.
Mr. Nasrudeen said more cases were being reported in boarding schools due to the close proximity that students shared. All protocols to contain the spread of COVID-19 among students were being followed by the schools. “The students, who tested positive, were all mostly asymptomatic and have been admitted to COVID-19 wards where they are recuperating,” the officials added.
School education officials said all schools had been instructed to ensure that students maintained personal distancing norms to prevent the spread of COVID-19. All teachers and staff at the schools had been vaccinated, they added.
