Chandigarh: Considering safety of students in schools in Punjab, state government issued fresh directions to all deputy commissioners (DCs) to conduct at least 10,000 Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests in schools across the state.
Chairing a coronavirus review meeting, chief secretary Vini Mahajan directed the health officials to conduct around 10,000 RT-PCR tests and DCs have been asked to ensure that only fully vaccinated teaching and non-teaching staff was allowed to attend the schools.
These samples have to be collected randomly among students and teachers to check the virus spread.
Punjab had reopened for all classes on August 2 and heads of all private and government schools have been asked to take at least 10,000 samples per day from Monday.
However, 27 government students tested positive from four districts in the state. 21 from Ludhiana, 3 from Abohar, 2 from Nawanshahr and one student in Amritsar tested positive on Tuesday.
As per the order, Ludhiana has given a target of 1000, Amritsar (790), Patiala (700), Jalandhar (647), Sangrur (570), Gurdaspur (565), Fazilka (562), Hoshiarpur (560), Bathinda (552), Tarn Taran (480), Ferozepur and SAS Nagar (420 each), Muktsar and Moga (390 each), Mansa (350), Kapurthala (260), Faridkot (250), Ropar (240), Fatehgarh Sahib and SBS Nagar (220 each), Barnala (210) and Pathankot (205).
DEOs in coordination with the Covid nodal officer of the district have to ensure that sampling and testing are done as per directions.
Meanwhile, there is a panic among parents of the school and health officials would conduct sampling of suspected coronavirus patients.