Chandigarh: Schools in Haryana will remain closed till November 30, the state announced today, as 174 students and 107 teachers tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in just over a fortnight after schools reopened in the state for higher classes.

All the infected students are from government schools in three districts in the state. Schools had reopened after eight months for classes 9 to 12 on November 2. Nearly 1.58 lakh students out of a total 6 lakh student population were attending the classes across the state everyday. In an order, the Directorate of State Education also said that the schools will be sanitised regularly to prevent the spread of the disease and maintain hygiene.

The state follows Maharashtra capital Mumbai, which also closed down schools today under the jurisdiction of the city`s civic body, till December 31 amid rising Covid-19 cases. The schools were earlier scheduled to reopen on Monday. The strict measures come on a day the country crossed the grim milestone of 90 lakh coronavirus cases. The total deaths in the country due to the deadly disease stands at 1,32,162.

The Phase III trials of Bharat Biotech`s coronavirus vaccine Covaxin also began in the state today with the state`s health minister Anil Vij volunteering to be the first to get the trial vaccine. Haryana had reported 2,212 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total tally in the state to 2,09,251. A total of 1,87,559 patients have been discharged so far; the death count in the state is at 2,113. Haryana has 19,579 active cases.

Schools across the country had been shut for months over the coronavirus pandemic until recently when the union government allowed the reopening of schools for higher classes. However, the centre said the preferred mode of education should be online classes and even if students go to school, they need to have written permission from their parents. Attending physical classes in school were not compulsory. Most schools across the county opted for online classes as Covid-19 cases continue to rise across India.

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