A total of 27 students studying at a private school in Dharapuram in Tiruppur district have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Health Department.
On November 27, two Class X boys from the school on Karur Main Road were admitted at the Government Hospital in Dharapuram with COVID-19 symptoms. As the two students subsequently tested positive, the Health Department decided to lift swab samples of students and faculty members at the school, officials said.
As many as 374 swab samples were lifted from the school on November 29, out of which the samples of 25 students returned COVID-19 positive the next day. These included 12 boys and 12 girls studying in Classes X and XII and one Class IX girl, according to the officials. Except for the two students who were initially hospitalised, the remaining 25 students were asymptomatic and were sent for home isolation.
The Health Department officials said the school will remain closed for this week for disinfection work. Block-wise monitoring of government and private schools regarding adherence to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures has been intensified across Tiruppur district, the officials added.
T. Sivakumar, District Educational Officer of Dharapuram educational district, said the School Education Department has been conducting awareness programmes for parents regarding vaccination and other safety protocols. “During our inspections, we are also checking the vaccination certificates of teaching and non-teaching faculty members in schools,” he said.