Shriram Millennium school in Sector 135 Noida on Tuesday decided to shut down the premises for two days and also postpone its annual examinations amid concerns that a student’s parent, had tested positive with COVID-19 and has been isolated on Monday.
“Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, we will be postponing the exams scheduled for today. The new dates will be communicated shortly. The Board exams will continue as normal. The children of classes 7-11 may come for extra classes if they wish. Class 6 and IGCSE classes continue with the study leave,” reads a message from the school to parents.
This follows reports that the individual who contracted coronavirus in Italy had attended a birthday party on February 28 (Friday) with his child studying in the Noida school. This party was also attended by other students of the school and their family members.
A total of 40 students of the school have been tested and sent to 28-day isolation, IANS quoted Dr Anurag Bhargav the Chief Medical Officer of Gautam Buddh Nagar as saying.
Bhargav said that the five families had attended the birthday party, which was hosted by the man who tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. Bhargav added that the man had found out that he was infected with coronavirus only after the birthday party.
The health official also requested people not to pay any heed to rumours and added that the school will reopen once the building is sanitised. He assured that the virus is so fragile that it dies within seven to eight hours in open area, therefore there was no need to panic, said Bhargav. Until the sanitisation of the school is completed the school administration has been asked to keep the premises shut.
#EXCLUSIVE | CNN-News18’s @sagargupta281 speak with Dr Anurag Bhargav (Noida CMO) about the shutdown of Noida schools due to Covid-19 outbreak.#CoronavirusOutbreak pic.twitter.com/yKj2WOQkvE
— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 3, 2020
He furthered that since there is no treatment for this virus as of now, the main treatment lies is prevention. People should avoid coming into contact with people who have visited foreign countries already notified.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has urged that the identity (name/residence location/office location/ names of family members) be kept confidential to avoid panic, discrimination and mental strain on the family.
Yesterday, the union health ministry had announced that there have been two positive cases of coronavirus with one of them being from Delhi and the other from Telangana.
Another educational institute, Shiv Nadar School, Noida, also has decided to close the school till March 9 to sanitise the area.
Coronavirus has infected more than 89,000 people globally and caused over 3,000 deaths. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it.
