Panic prevails after SSLC kids test positive; govt allays fears

Panic prevails after SSLC kids test positive; govt allays fears

Basavarah Kattimani & Darshan H TNN

Hubballi/Hassan: 28.06.2020

Two SSLC students from Kaladagi in Bagalkot district tested positive for Covid-19 just hours after they wrote their first exam on Thursday. In Hassan, a 16-year-old was driven straight to the hospital after the maths paper on Saturday.

Both incidents have sparked panic in the respective districts amid calls for cancellation of exams from parents.

Srishail Biradar, deputy director of public instruction, Bagalkot, said the two students who attended the exam at Hannu Belegarar Sangh’s High School Centre were from the containment zone in Kaladagi. He said nine students from the zone wrote the English exam on the first day.

“We had a separate room for students coming from containment zones as per the standard operating procedure prescribed by the government. After the exam on June 25, the students exhibited signs of fatigue and ran a fever. Their throat swab samples were sent for test and returned positive.

The swab samples of the other seven children were negative and they have been allowed to take the remaining exams. The two students will be given a chance to write the supplementary exams in July and it will be treated as their first attempt. “Invigilators and others who were in the room have been asked to quarantine themselves,” Srishail added.

He said precautions have been taken to ensure safety of students. “We are ensuring they maintain distance and wear masks,” he explained.

Boy suffered from dengue

In Hassan, the 16-year-old student was writing the maths exam when a team of health officials rushed to the centre in Mallipatna Government High School, Arkalgud, and isolated him from the other 18 students in his room. After the paper, he was shifted to a Covid hospital.

School authorities in Hassan have sought nod from health and district authorities on whether to allow the 18 kids to write the exams. Hassan DDPI Prakash saidthe boy will give supplementary exams.

Authorities have asked the 18 students, staff and police to be in home quarantine. The infected student who stays 6km from the exam centre travelled in a bus with his mother. Officials have identified 10 primary and 22 secondary contacts. He feel sick on June 18 and was diagnosed with dengue on June 23. Officials are verifying if his temperature was checked at the centre.