Gujarat COVID news: Amid surge in cases CM Rupani govt takes this BIG decision

As COVID-19 cases are seeing a continuous rise in Gujarat, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting and it was decided that school for classes 1 to 9 would be indefinitely shut from Monday (April 5). However, classroom teaching for standards 10 and 12, as well as colleges, would continue.

"All offline classes of standard 1 to 9 in government and private schools will be closed down for an indefinite period from Monday. Online education will be encouraged. The decision was taken keeping in mind safety of students when COVID-19 cases have surged in the state," a release from the CM's office said.

Schools and colleges in the state, which were closed since March last year after a lockdown was imposed to tackle the outbreak, were reopened in a phased manner from January this year.

School for classes 10 to 12 and lectures for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in colleges resumed on January 11, which was followed by the resumption of classes 9 and 12 from February 8.Gujarat, on Friday, reported 2640 cases, the highest single-day addition, as well as 11 deaths.

India's daily coronavirus infections hit another record on Saturday for the highest tally since September, while daily deaths reached a five-month high, a Reuters count based on data from the health ministry showed.

India recorded 89,129 new infections and 714 deaths, the ministry said. That was the biggest single-day rise since September 20 last year and the most deaths since October 21, according to a Reuters tally.

The country has been recording a spike in cases for over three weeks. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Haryana are states of "grave concern".

The active cases have now increased to 6,58,909 comprising 5.32 percent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 93.36 percent.

Meanwhile, the death toll increased to 1,64,110 on Saturday with 714 new fatalities.

Source : DNA India