38 school girls test Covid positive in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri
Darpan News Desk IANS, 27 Mar, 2023 10:44 AM
Lakhimpur Kheri (Uttar Pradesh), March 27 (IANS) Thirty-eight girl students of the Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district have tested positive for Covid-19 infection, a district health official said.
Lakhimpur Kheri Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Santosh Gupta, said that one staff member was also found Covid-positive during a contact tracing exercise on Sunday after which the entire campus has been turned into a quarantine centre by the Health department.
This is the highest number of new Covid cases reported in a district in a day this year.
Gupta, who rushed a medical team to the Kasturba school, said samples of all 92 contact cases of the school had been sent for testing. The report of 38 among them was positive. Most of those tested positive were asymptomatic, he added.
"All students and staff had been advised seven-day quarantine on campus and provided medicine kits. Condition of all students, barring two who have cold, is fine," the CMO said.
Those found Covid-positive had been kept in a separate wing in the school campus, he added.
A mother and child wing in Motipur has been asked to keep 20 beds ready for any medical need among the students and staff in the campus.
"I personally spoke to students and assures them of all help. We are keeping watch on the health condition," said Gupta. An ambulance had also been stationed at the Kasturba school in case of any emergency, he added.
With this, the number of active Covid cases had risen to 41 since March 23, he said.
On March 23, a girl student of Kasturba residential school in Mitauli block had tested positive for Covid-19. Then, an elderly person of Behjam block and another person of Mitauli block also tested positive in the last couple of days.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate, Lakhimpur Kheri, Mahendra Bahadur Singh, said all precautionary measures, including providing medical kit, sanitisation etc, had been ensured. He said there was no need to panic and urged people to strictly observe Covid-19 protocol.
Badal was reacting to media reports, which quoted the Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor as saying that the varsity is facing a "dark future" and demanded that the budgetary grant should be over Rs 300 crore. "The university is already under a debt of Rs 150 crore and is not in a position to pay salaries on time," Vice-Chancellor Professor Arvind has said.
Announcing this here, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said a decision to this effect had been taken under the leadership of party President Sukhbir Badal following a meeting with constituency in-charges and senior BSP leadership.
Earlier in the day, the court deferred hearing in Sisodia's bail application for March 21, in the same case being probed by the CBI. Special CBI Judge M.K. Nagpal of the Rouse Avenue Courts has ordered Sisodia to be produced before court on March 17 at 2 p.m.
The Border Security Force (BSF) on Friday recovered an AK series rifle along with two magazines and 40 rounds of ammunition from a field in Gurdaspur sector after shooting down a drone. During the search, BSF troops found a hexacopter along with the weapon and ammunition.
The Chief Minister said the government has so far given 26,797 jobs to youth, adding that the budget stipulates to regularly recruit and create an ecosystem for private jobs for Punjabis to check brain drain.
The Tihar authorities said that Sisodia will remain in jail. The senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has been arrested a day before the hearing on his bail plea in the matter.
