Delhi School Covid-19 Update: The Delhi government on Friday issued guidelines related to COVID-19 for schools, saying that students and staff should not be allowed to enter the school premises without thermal scanning. The government also said that if anyone is found infected with COVID-19, the institute should take appropriate steps for their isolation. Significantly, the national capital has seen an increase in the cases of COVID-19 in the last few days. In view of this, the government has issued guidelines. On Thursday, 965 new cases of corona virus infection were reported in Delhi.
There were 1,009 cases on Wednesday, 632 on Tuesday and 501 on Monday. As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued by the Delhi government, schools have been advised to ask students to avoid sharing of food and stationery items. Also, it states that parents should be advised not to send a child or any family member to school if they are found infected with the corona virus or if they show symptoms of COVID. It states, “If any student or any school employee is found to have symptoms of corona virus infection, then he should be kept in an open place or segregation away from the general public.” It is also instructed that if symptoms of corona virus are found in any student of the class, then they should inform the Principal of the school. This should be immediately informed by the Principal to the Zonal and District officials.
The school administration reserves the right to temporarily close off a particular part or area to be cordoned off. Timing should be done to avoid crowd. According to the guidelines, “Volunteers can be taken to maintain COVID-appropriate behavior (CAB) and avoid crowding.” No student and staff should be allowed to enter the campus without thermal scanning.
The Delhi government said in the SOP that school principals are advised to hold meetings with parents as well as School Management Committees (SMCs) to review compliance with the COVID protocols and to conduct meetings between students and parents. Other confidence building measures may be discussed. Reports of rising infections following the resumption of offline classes after a gap of almost two years due to the pandemic have raised concerns. Experts are once again warning against closing schools. Schools in Delhi-NCR have swung into action following a rise in the number of COVID cases and are taking several measures, including frequent cleaning, to minimize the spread of the virus and thus avoid closing the premises.