New Delhi: Dehradun's Welham Girls' School has reported 16 Covid-19 cases following which it was declared a micro-containment zone on Wednesday, PTI reported. Dehradun district magistrate R Rajesh Kumar said six of the students tested positive on Tuesday during random Covid-19 testing.


"Six of these students tested positive on Tuesday and the rest over the past one week," PTI quoted Rajesh Kumar as saying.


Kumar said the students who have contracted the infection have been kept in isolation in a Covid cell built inside the school premises. Welham Girls' School is a residential school in Panchpuri colony of Dalanwala, Dehradun.


The school was declared a micro-containment zone following the recommendation of Dehradun's chief medical officer, PTI reported


On Wednesday, Uttarakhand reported 23 new Covid-19 cases, with Dehradun alone accounting for 14 infections. Covid infections had dropped to single digit in the state in recent months.


With Covid-19 cases rising again in Uttarakhand, the state goverment is mulling bringing back restrictions, including mandatory test report for those visiting the state. 


State health minister Dhan Singh Rawat said the government was closely monitoring the situation. "I appeal to people to strictly abide by Covid safety protocols," he said earlier this week.


The state health department has issued instructions to increase Covid testing to check further spread of the infection.


The spike in cases comes even as the Char Dham yatra commenced on Tuesday in Uttarakhand. The Gangotri and Yamunotri shrines have been opened for pilgrims.