Karnataka schools will be closed until December 31 | Photo credit: iStock Images
Karnataka schools would not reopen in December. After much deliberation, the Technical Advisory Committee established by the State Government has advised the State not to reopen schools in December. A review of the situation would be done in the last week of December to decide the dates to reopen the schools, he said.
The committee headed by Dr. MK Sudarshan has pointed out that the current scenario in the state is showing a decline and the important thing to do at this point is to consolidate the gains. He also noted that although the universities have reopened, attendance remains lousy. With these considerations, the committee has decided to ‘postpone’ the reopening of schools after ‘reviewing’ the situation.
The committee has also assessed the situation in other states that have shown an increase in COVID cases in the recent past. However, there is currently an increase / resurgence of cases in the states of Delhi, Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and others. In addition, the months of December and January due to winter are cold and conducive to the emergence and spread of respiratory infections, including COVID-19. The epidemiological perspective based on the state COVID-19 survey conducted in September is that there may be an increase in COVID-19 cases in districts with low prevalence, ”the report reads.
Read also | Schools reopening in India: Maharashtra reopening, Gujarat and Karnataka postponement: status updates
Prior to this announcement, the state government postponed the reopening of schools on several occasions. The decision was made to collect feedback from all interested parties and also to form a committee to determine the appropriate time to reopen the schools.
Meanwhile, the state reopened the universities as of November 17, 2020. In the latest update, the government confirmed that it would review the situation and the impact of the reopening of the universities and could decide to close the universities again if deemed necessary.
