As new Covid-19 cases rise in the country, mainly due to increasing cases in Kerala in the aftermath of recent festivities of Onam and Bakrid, Tamil Nadu has decided to ban Ganesh Chaturthi processions to avoid mass public gathering ahead of the upcoming festive season. As per new directives, while individuals are allowed to take Ganesh idols to immerse them in the beaches, processions are banned.
Similarly, Karnataka has decided to continue with night curfew in border districts with Kerala, while a one-week institutional quarantine and testing after seven days, irrespective of vaccination or negative RT-PCR report, is compulsory for people coming from Kerala. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
These moves come as India’s Covid chart took an upward flight with the country recording 42,909 new infection cases on Monday, while 380 people succumbed to the virus during the period, according to the Health Ministry. Active cases constitute 1.15% of total cases, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate stands 97.51 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said. The daily positivity rate now stands at 3.02 per cent. The data further shows that 63.43 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
In the country’s total fresh cases, Kerala contributed 29,836 cases in the past 24 hours to take the total number of those affected in the state by the viral infection to 40,07,408. The test positivity rate rose closer to 20 per cent and with 75 deaths, the number of fatalities increased to 20,541, a state government release said.
Even as southern states are embattled with coronavirus, the situation seems to be under control in Delhi, which saw a devastating second wave in April-May. The national capital registered 20 new covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, while one person died to Covid-19. With the continuous dip in Covid cases, the Delhi government decided to open schools in a phased manner from September 1.
However, the very idea to open schools at this juncture has become a matter of grave concern for parents. While medical bodies are advising that the time has come for reopening of schools, which are shut for 16 months, parents are asking why the authorities are in so much hurry to open schools.
Speaking exclusively with The Daily Guardian, Dr Suresh Kumar, MD, LNLP Hospital, said the situation is absolutely conducive here in Delhi for reopening of schools since positivity rate is only 0.004, while vaccination drive has covered almost half of the population. “The longer you keep children away from schools, the more adverse impact it is going to have on children’s mental and physical development. The children already have strong immunity levels and less lung receptors, which get affected due to coronavirus,” Kumar said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Dr Suneela Garg, Senior Professor, Maulana Azad Medical College and Covid task force member, said children were affected during the first and second Covid waves also but “rarely have we heard of hospitalization and deaths”. She added that schools are closed in only eight countries and India is one of them which has economic and social/mental costs on society.
“Half of the class children can be called to classrooms, while the rest of them can join via online methods. Parents should not wait for kids’ vaccines. Along with Covid guidelines and vaccinated staff and parents, children can easily resume studies,” she told The Daily Guardian.
On the other hand, parents expressed apprehensions over reopening of schools. Interestingly, a parents’ association in Ghaziabad ran an online poll whether schools should open now or not in the state. The majority of respondents were not in favour of opening schools. Some of them even commented that the education lobby is pressurising authorities to open schools so that they may fleece money from parents.