New Delhi: Amidst the prevalence of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools in the country have been closed since March last year. As the cases of the new Delta variant are being reported throughout the country it can be clearly said that it’s a huge risk to open schools for students.
But Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder doesn’t think so, as he has ordered the opening of schools for classes 10, 11, 12 from July 26.
Dr. Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in an interview to India Today said that “I am a proponent of opening up schools in a staggered way for districts that are seeing less virus circulation. It [reopening of schools] can be planned for places having positivity rates below 5 per cent,”.
With just 90 lakh people vaccinated in the state it can be a huge risk related to student’s health. As the highly contagious delta variant spreads unvaccinated populations remain the most vulnerable and among them are young children below age 18 who are not yet eligible for vaccination.
Many countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore had also shut down their institutions according to prevailing Covid-19 conditions. Most schools and educational institutions in the United States are still closed as only vaccinated students above 12 years are allowed to come to schools.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, As of July 8, more than 40 lakh children had been diagnosed with Covid-19 which represents 14.2 percent of all cases in America
At least 335 children, ages 17 and younger, have died from Covid-19, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, But increasing cases among children, including severe ones, are expected as the delta variant spreads and with no Covid vaccine authorized for children under the age of 12.
