The Pathanamthitta District Collector has declared three day holiday for all educational institution in the district from Monday. This after five people from Ranni area in the district were confirmed to have COVID-19. The Collector said that anganwadis, poly technic and professional colleges, aided and unaided schools will all remain shut.
However, board exams for 10th and 12th standard students of state syllabus will go on as scheduled on Tuesday. School students who have come in contact with the five patients and those who have any symptoms of COVID-19 have been asked to skip examinations. The Collector said that they would be given an opportunity to write the exams later. Those students who may have had secondary contact with the patients will be allowed to write the exam in seperate rooms. All examination centres will be equipped with sanitisers and masks and Parent Teacher Associations of schools have been asked to also help in making these arrangements.
On Sunday morning, Health Minister KK Shailaja had announced that 5 people had tested positive for coronavirus. This included three members of a family who had returned from Italy on February 29th. Though they had developed fever on March 5th, they met a doctor at a private hospital, but did not disclose their travel history. It was only when two of the relatives who are also their neighbours went to a government hospital with fever, that health officials learnt about this family. All the five people were then moved to isolation wards.
The three people who have come from Italy to Pathanamthitta in Kerala and tested positive for coronavirus have come in contact with over 150 people out of which they have interacted closely with 58 people. This was revealed at a press conference that Health Minister KK Shailaja held in Pathanamthitta on Sunday night.
The health department will now need to trace the persons that these 150 people have come in contact with. Many have already been traced and placed under observation. People are also encouraged to contact the health department if they have come in contact with the three persons who came back from Italy. This includes everything from close interactions to other interactions like sitting one to rows from the infected persons at a movie theatre for example.
The Health Minister has also asked to postpone weddings or similar public functions in the district. Government offices in the district have been asked to stop using biometric punching for a week. The exercise of adding names to the voters' list has also been cancelled.
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