Apprehensive that a possible
second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic may hit the country mid- December, the Odisha government on Friday announced that it has put on hold its decision to reopen schools this month.
Odisha’s School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the state had earlier decided to resume school activities for students of classes 9 to 12 in November, but fears of a possible second wave of infections made the government reconsider its plan.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has recently cautioned about a possible second wave, and the department, going by his advice, has decided not to put students’ health and wellbeing at risk, he said.
Dash said the department had already worked out a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for reopening the schools, but the pandemic situation does not…