Source: India.com
As the country is observing a significant drop in COVID-19 cases, Dr. Randeep Guleria, Chief of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, has advocated the stunned reopening of schools. Notably, most of the schools in the country have been shut since March 2020 to break the spread of coronavirus. Some states resumed normal classes after September 2020, but owing to an unparalleled surge of COVID-19 cases, earlier this year, schools were forced to switch classes to the online mode. Meanwhile, speaking to a leading portal, Guleria suggested that schools can be reopened in places where COVID cases are falling and positivity rates are less than 5 per cent. “I am an advocate of opening up schools in a staggered way, for districts that are seeing less virus flow”, he told India Today in an interview. Guleria, who is also member of India’s Task Force on COVID said that districts with less positivity rate and cases should explore the option of bringing children back to schools on alternative days and look for other ways of a staggered reopening. He added that if investigation hints at the spread of infection, classes can be immediately suspended.
