Kerala mulls reopening schools even as COVID cases breach 41-lakh mark

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New Delhi: Amid a worrying surge in daily COVID-19 cases in the state, the Kerala government is considering reopening schools. 

The state government has constituted an expert committee that will prepare a report on the matter, PTI reported. Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan along with the high-level committee monitoring the COVID situation would take a final decision on the school reopening.

"The Education Department is contemplating to set up a suitable expert panel to submit a report to know whether the circumstances in the state are all right to reopen the schools," Sivankutty said. 

The Department would also prepare a project report suggesting which classes can be reopened in the initial phase, what facilities can be ensured for the safety of children in the COVID-19 pandemic and so on.

"The report of the expert committee and the project report of the education department will be submitted to the Chief Minister. An appropriate decision will be taken only after it," the minister added. 

Kerala has been conducting online classes for all students since the coronavirus pandemic broke out last year. Earlier, the government had decided to reopen schools only after children were vaccinated, ANI reported. 

Several states including Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan reopened schools with strict COVID-19 restrictions in place on September 1. 

As per data on Thursday, Kerala reported 32,097 new COVID-19 infections and 188 fatalities, pushing the caseload to breach 41-lakh mark (41,22,133) and the fatalities to reach 21,149. The test positivity rate (TPR) was found to be 18.41 per cent after 1,74,307 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, according to a state government release. 

(With agency inputs)