Post increase in number of suspected COVID-19 cases in the State, educational institutions are leaving no stone unturned to check health condition of their students.
Many private institutions are conducting awareness programmes for their students and the precautionary measures to be taken in the wake of suspected COVID-19 outbreak. A few school managements have sent messages to the parents WhatsApp groups to take precautionary measures and also tried to get face masks for their children.
On Friday, several private schools, especially play schools in the city, had conducted health screening for their students in which they checked body temperatures and if the children had cough or cold. If the body temperatures were found high, parents were informed. Engineering college managements also asked their students to take preventive measures while travelling in buses and auto-rickshaws.
Face masks
Students appearing Intermediate examinations have been seeking the officials to allow them to the examination hall with face masks and hand sanitisers, on the lines of Telangana government. Candidates say that the examination centre staff are not allowing masks to prevent copying.
“Hundreds of students attend the examination at every centre. Some are suffering from cold, cough. The government should allow us to take masks into the examination centre. I do not understand the problem here. They can thoroughly check the candidate before allowing them,” said N Rahul, an Intermediate student from the city. However, Regional Intermediate Officer B. Sujatha said that they have not received any instructions from Andhra Pradesh Intermediate Board officials. Unless and until we receive such instructions, we cannot allow students with face masks or sanitisers, she said.
Homoeo medicine distributed
Meanwhile, a preventive homoeopathic medicine was distributed by Dr. Umar Alisha Rural Development Trust, Pithapuram, to a large number of people, who took a holy dip at the confluence of the Gosthani River with the Bay of Bengal at Bheemunipatnam, in connection with Nrusimha Jayanthi, on Friday. The medicine is said to prevent COVID-19. Ananda Kumar Pingali, convener of the trust, said the medicine would help improve immunity in human beings and could be used by all people .
Trust volunteers P. Manjula, K. Vijayalakshmi, K. Suryanarayana and K.Ch .Nrasimha Murty distributed the medicine to those who took the holy dip.
Over 1 lakh students from the district are appearing the Intermediate first year and second year examinations in the district. The officials have allocated about 109 examination centres across the district.
