13 children who attended tuition in Andhra test positive for coronavirus

The tests were conducted after the first COVID-19 death was reported in the village on September 25.
Villagers in Bhatluru
Villagers in Bhatluru
Written by:
At least 13 children tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bhatluru village of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh after attending the same tuition being conducted by a person at his home. The development came even as schools are likely to reopen soon, as per the Unlock 5.0 guidelines issued by the Union government.
 
The incident came to light after tests were conducted on several locals, after a COVID-19 death was reported in the village on September 25, in Guntur Government General Hospital (GGH).
 
The tuition was being conducted at the man’s home every day in the evenings for primary students in the village and the children were said to be in close proximity. Besides the students, aged between 8 and 12, the tuition teacher, his pregnant wife and other family members also reportedly tested positive for the coronavirus. Guntur district health officials are yet to ascertain the source of the spread.
 
So far, about 500 people from the village have been tested. Along with the students, there are a total of 45 locals, whose results returned positive. Among them, 17 members have comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and asthma among others, Dr Sheshu Yadav, a Guntur district health official told the media.
 
All the students and those with comorbidities were sent to quarantine in the nearby NRI government hospital for further treatment. Contact tracing is underway and the area has been declared as a containment zone. Sanitation measures are also being taken.
 
According to officials, a notice was served to the teacher as conducting a tuition amid the pandemic was against COVID-19 protocol. 
 
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh’s COVID-19 tally crossed the seven lakh mark on Thursday to reach 7,00,235 cases with 6,751 new positive cases, even as recoveries continued to outnumber fresh infections. The number of active cases stands at 57,858.
 
 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com