Srinagar: The authorities have ordered closure of all schools, including Higher Secondary Schools (HSSs), from Monday in view of rise in COVID-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir.
The class work for classes’ upto 9th standard has been suspended for two weeks while classes 10th, 11th and 12th have been closed for one week from Monday, Lt Governor Manoj Sinha said on Sunday.
He said all gatherings for social and customary functions will be restricted to 200 only and after following due COVID Standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Sinha said in view of rising trend in COVID-19 cases in J&K and likelihood of young children getting infected and transmitting infection in large numbers, all classes upto 9th standard will be closed for two weeks from Monday till 18 April 21.
He said classes 10, 11 and 12 will also be closed for one week in all schools from Monday till April 11, 2021 in entire Jammu and Kashmir. “All gatherings for social and customary functions will be restricted to 200 only and after following due COVID SOPs,” he added.
Over a dozen schools were closed in Kashmir valley following staffers and students testing positive for COVID-19 since High and HSSs reopened last month after more than a year due to Coronavirus restrictions.
Amid a spike in COVID cases, Jammu and Kashmir government last week classified Srinagar as an orange zone while all other districts have been declared as green zones, whereas Lakhanpur was declared as a containment zone and Jawahar Tunnel area on either side as Red zones. As many as 501 new positive cases of novel Coronavirus, including 393 from Kashmir division and 108 from Jammu division, were reported on Saturday, when two persons died due to COVID-19 in the UT.
