Paralakhemundi: As many as 26 teachers and two students from various schools in Gajapati district have tested positive for the Covid-19.
The development came a day after the reopening of schools for Standard X and XII which were closed for the last nine months.
Confirming the reports, the Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), Pradip Patra said that Mohana block in the district has registered maximum 21 positive cases in the last 48 hours. They all are teachers from various schools, he added.
However, the infected persons including the students are asymptomatic, he added. They have been barred from attending classes, the CDMO said.
“Total 31 persons have tested positive including 26 teachers and two students. They don’t have any symptoms of the disease. Maximum 21 teachers have been found positive only in Mohana block. As per the standard operating procedure (SOP) fixed by the government, the teachers and students will remain in home quarantine. They can attend the classes only after recovery,” Patra said.
After Mohana, most of the cases are found in Paralakhemundi. “They might get infected after coming in contact with the migrants from Andhra Pradesh,” Patra claimed.
As per the decision of School and Mass Education department, the schools in the State had reopened for only standards X and XII on Friday.
Despite strict precautionary measures and SOPs adopted by the government, several schools are found to have registered thin attendance due to risk of Covid-19 infection, sources said.
Many parents were apprehensive of sending their wards to the educational institutions as the risk of infection is yet to be over.
Notably, a detailed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has been adopted for reopening of all government, government-aided and private schools across the State.
As per the SOP, the students of standards X and XII will be given 100 days of classroom teaching before they appear the annual examinations in May. The classes will be held on Saturdays and Sundays too.
The annual board exam of Class X students will be conducted from May 3-15, while the Council of Higher Secondary Education will hold exams for Class XII students from May 15 to June 11.