Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner R. Selvamani has instructed teachers and officers of the Department of Public Instructions to take measures necessary to avoid the spread of COVID-19 among schoolchildren.
The officer held a meeting with officials and representatives of educational institutes in Shivamogga on January 17. As the number of COVID-19 cases among students is increasing, school managements should screen students every day. Students’ body temperature should be recorded and those with Covid-19 symptoms should be sent back home. Attendance for students should not be compulsory, the DC said.
Hostels where more than five students test positive, should be closed down. But, authorities should not send students to their native places. Instead, they should take care of them in the hostels. The officers concerned should appoint nodal officers to keep a tab on COVID-19 cases in schools and colleges, he suggested.
Regarding the vaccination drive, the DC said, so far, 98% of eligible people had been vaccinated with the first dose and 83% of the population had got two doses of the vaccine. There was sufficient stock of vaccine in the district. Administering booster doses for people above the age of 60, and vaccinating children between the age of 15 and 17 should be completed within a week, he said.
Zilla Panchayat CEO M.L. Vaishali, Additional DC Nagendra Honnalli and other officers were present at the meeting.
