Chennai: An academic week after schools reopened in Tamil Nadu, the number of fresh COVID-19 cases in educational institutions, among students and teachers, have increased with two students and a teacher turning positive for the virus. The spike in the new cases has raised worries among parents.
According to a report in The New Indian Express on Sunday, three people including two students and a teacher recently tested positive for COVID-19. One of them was a 16-year-old student from Government-aided Higher Secondary School in Ariyalur and another student was a 19-year-old from Kundhavai Natchiyar Government Arts College for Women in Thanjavur. The teacher who tested positive was a Tamil teacher from Nesavalar Colony Municipal High School in Tirupur. All three people gave tests for COVID-19 on September 1 and their test results came back positive reportedly on Friday.
However, the college student did not attend college since she received the test result and the teacher also had symptoms from September 1, if reports are to be believed. Following this, the Health Department collected the samples of primary contacts of the teachers working in Tirupur through a camp. The health officials have also sent samples of the contacts.
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With the increasing COVID-19 cases among the students of Class 9-12, parents are scared about the increasing infections and mull on opting for online classes.
Yet, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday said that the positive patients might have contracted the virus before the reopening of educational institutions. However, the samples have been collected from other students and teachers and the Health Department is working on tracing the contacts.
On September 3, three teachers and three students from parts of the state tested positive for COVID-19.