Dist admin to follow graded approach to contain Covid-19 in schools

A total of 768 cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed among students in the age group 16 to 23 years studying at various educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada district between January 9 and 16.

Following the same, 20 campuses have been declared as containment zones.

There are 203 active Covid-19 cases between children in the age group 0-15, as of January 16.

Deputy Commissioner Dr Rajendra K V said that following the same, the district administration has adopted a graded approach to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the educational institutions in the district.

He also said that there is no plan to suspend physical classes in the entire district as this would leave a negative impact on the education of students.

The action would be taken at the school or college level. If there are five to 10 cases in a school, the physical classes would be suspended temporarily, he added.

The district administration has issued a notification to the management of the private education institutions to strictly adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines issued by the government, he said.

The deputy commissioner said that among the children below 15 years who have been tested for Covid-19, the hospitalisation rate is less than 1%.

"There are adequate health personnel, resources and medical infrastructure to handle the situation. There is no need to worry," he added.

District Nodal officer for Covid-19, Dr Ashok, said that among the students who have contracted Covid-19, 95% are paramedical students from Kerala studying in various colleges.

In spite of high alert and making the submission of RT-PCR negative certificates mandatory, the students who tested positive earlier have failed to follow seven-day strict isolation rules, which has now led to a bunch of cases. Also, during the time of new admissions, the students were accompanied by their parents who were not tested for Covid-19, he noted.

Students who have tested positive are likely to spread the infection to their hostel mates from various schools as well, which will result in a faster spread of Covid-19. In cases of non-adherence to the isolation rules, notices have been served to several institutions, said Dr Ashok.

He further said that the Covid-19 positive students have mild symptoms such as moderate fever, sore throat and running nose. Even though none of these cases has turned severe, they have been advised to be in strict isolation for seven days, along with proper medication.

Their primary contacts are also isolated for seven days and are tested for Covid-19 on the eighth day. If the primary contacts are persons with comorbidity, they are tested and isolated. The technical committee formed by the district administration has been monitoring the cases, he added.