Tezpur on alert after several staff members of 'Assam Valley School' test COVID-19 positive

Tezpur: An alert has been sounded in Assam's Tezpur after at least 23 staff of the famous Assam Valley School in Balipara recently tested COVID-19 positive. This development has come merely days after the Assam Government allowed schools to conduct classes for 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th standard students by following all preventive measures.

According to reports, the school's authorities had arranged a Rapid Antigen Test for the staff after a single person tested positive for the virus. As many as 23 staff members of the school tested positive during the resultant testing drive.

Following this, the district administration has tagged the school as a "Containment Zone" and prohibited the movement of persons into the educational institution.

A source informed The Sentinel Digital that all the persons in Assam Valley who tested COVID-19 positive have been shifted outside the premises for their treatment. "Currently, online classes are being conducted by the Assam Valley School. Frankly speaking, the detection of Corona cases in the grounds has come as a shocker to many," the source added.

Earlier, eight students and one teacher of Pathshala town in the Bajali district of Assam also tested positive for COVID-19. The 'positive' cases were detected after a series of tests were conducted in three educational institutions of Pathshala on Tuesday.

Assam's Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier announced that the schools and colleges in the state can reopen their doors, but the students will have to carry a consent note from their parents. In case a school/college reports cases of the virus, requisite measures would be taken to control the outbreak, he said. Sarma also announced that the private schools in the state shall be free to take the call on whether to reopen or not.

This development comes after the Assam government announced the Unlock 4 guidelines where classes from 9 to 12 have resumed functioning in the State.

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