Delhi: School asks parents not send children on Monday after student tests Covid positive

NEW DELHI: A top private school here has asked parents to not send their children to school on Monday after a student tested positive for COVID-19. The number of school students testing positive has been on the rise in the city, raising concerns of parents. The Delhi government has told school authorities to close specific wings or classrooms wherever needed. Schools in Delhi have a four-day holiday in view of Ambedkar Jayanti, which was on Thursday, and Good Friday followed by Saturday and Sunday.

"Kindly do not send your wards to school on Monday as fumigation or sanitation exercise will be conducted," the school said in a communication to parents on Saturday after the Covid positive case was reported. Two top private schools had on Friday confirmed that each of them have received information from parents about their wards testing positive.

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Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday said that coronavirus cases may have been rising in the national capital, but there is no need to worry as hospitalisation is low. Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, reiterated that instructions have been issued to schools to follow the government's Standard Operating Procedure if they detect any case.

A meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has been called on April 20 to review the situation in the national capital. Reports of infections from schools have triggered concerns weeks after they opened for completely offline classes following a two-year gap due to the pandemic.

The fresh infections in private schools in the national capital have been reported close on the heels of schools in adjoining Noida and Ghaziabad reporting new cases of the disease. Coronavirus cases and the positivity rate in the national capital have seen an upward trend over the last few days. With 366 new cases on Friday, the national capital's overall Covid tally increased to 18,67,572, while the death toll stands at 26,158.