Hyderabad: Taking cognizance of rising COVID-19 cases in the state, educational institutions across Telangana will be temporarily shut from tomorrow.
An announcement to this effect was made by state education minister Sabita Indira Reddy in the state assembly on Tuesday. Except for medical schools, all other educational institutions will be shut, the minister said.
Online classes will continue as usual, she added.
This decision by the Telangana government came after educational institutions were temporarily shut in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Haryana and Puducherry.
Telangana was witnessing a spurt in COVID-19 cases, with several clusters of cases being reported from schools and hostels in the past few days.
Schools for class 9th and above were reopened from February 1 this year, after a gap of nearly 11 months. For classes 6 to 8, schools were reopened on March 1. Special precautions were put in place, including regular temperature checks and sanitization facilities.
The state reported 412 new cases during the last 24 hours, with a maximum of 103 people testing positive in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. Educational institutions had been slowly reopening over, albeit with caution, but it seems like even 2021 is likely to be hampered due to COVID-19.