Kerala's Pathanamthitta district shuts down schools, colleges amid coronavirus scare

Amid the Coronavirus outbreak, Pathanamthitta administration on Sunday informed that all educational institutes in Kerala district will remain closed for three days. According to reports, Pathanamthitta District Collector issued an order on March 8 that stated that all Angadwadis, schools, colleges, polytechnic colleges will remain closed from March 9 to March 11.

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The order also stated that the SSLC and plus-two examinations scheduled for Tuesday in the state will not be postponed. Students showing coronavirus symptoms will, however, not be permitted to write exams, the order read. As per reports, face masks and sanitizers will be provided at the government schools by the parents-teachers association, while private school authorities will have to provide for these in their respective schools. 

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Meanwhile, Kottayam district collector PK Sudheer Babu also issued an order that stated that all educational institutes in his jurisdiction will remain closed on March 9. But examinations in Kottayam district will be conducted as decided earlier and there will be no changes in the schedule of the papers. 

Five new cases of Coronavirus in Kerala 

In yet another development on Sunday, 8 March, five cases of Coronavirus have been confirmed in Kerala, bringing the total to 39 positive cases in India. The health minister KK Shailaja has informed that the concerned individuals have been admitted to isolation wards. She has informed that three of the five new cases were people who had returned from Italy and two other were infected in Pathanamitta district itself. In total, Kerala had reported eight cases, three earlier ones have been treated and discharged. 

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Coronavirus outbreak

India has so far reported over 39 coronavirus cases with six of them discovered in the last 24 hours. As per reports, there are 37 active COVID-19 cases in the country and the total recovered patients tally stands at 3. The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has claimed more than 3,800 lives across the globe and has infected over 1,09,000 people around the world since it first broke out in December 2019. According to the latest reports, at least 500 people have died outside mainland China, which makes it the worst disease outbreak of the 21st century. 

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 Image Credit: PTI