Puducherry schools, colleges to reopen from July 16: CM N Rangaswamy

Puducherry: Chief Minister N Rangaswamy made an announcement that all schools and colleges will be reopening in the state from July 16 onwards, following all COVID-19 restrictions and safety guidelines.

With the second wave of pandemic slowing down and coronavirus cases dropping significantly, Puducherry has decided to reopen all schools – government and private – for students of classes 9 to 12 from July 16.

“All schools for students in classes 9-12 will reopen from July 16. All colleges will also be reopened from July 16,” the Puducherry chief minister said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

Puducherry has added 145 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, as recorded on Sunday morning. 

However, the UT has had no fatalities in the past one day. The death toll due to coronavirus in the district stands at 1,769 at present.

“Vaccination has picked up in Puducherry, we’ve crossed over 5 lakh vaccinations. Our aim is to vaccinate the whole UT before August 15. People had vaccine hesitancy but now they’ve overcome it. Puducherry will be totally vaccinated before Aug 15, as per our plan,” said the Puducherry Lt Governor.

Earlier on Saturday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin announced the extension of lockdown till July 19 with added relaxations, including the resumption of bus operations to Puducherry. The chief minister also permitted holding of employment-related examinations of the state and Union government.

(With inputs from news agencies)