Uttarakhand makes masks compulsory at private, government schools amid COVID concerns

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], December 29 (ANI): Amid COVID-19 fear, the Uttarakhand government made masks mandatory in private as well as government schools.
Uttarakhand Director General of Education Bansidhar Tiwari said, "Students, teachers and other employees of private and government schools will have to come wearing masks and use sanitiser-thermal screening."
Tiwari said that instructions have been given to the principals of all private and government schools that every employee, teacher and child will have to wear masks in the school.
"No one will be allowed to enter the school without a mask," he said.
He further said that instructions have also been given that social distancing should be followed as much as possible and awareness campaigns regarding COVID should be conducted on a large scale in schools so that the coming danger of the virus can be averted in advance.
Earlier, the Karnataka government made masks mandatory in schools and colleges, in the wake of a surge in Covid cases in several countries.
The teachers at the school have been instructing students to wear masks in school.
Last week, Uttarakhand Health Secretary in charge Dr R Rajesh Kumar reviewed the Covid-19 situation through a virtual medium.
He said that all the District Magistrates and Chief Medical Officers, as per the guidelines issued by the Government of India in June 2022 for the Operational Guideline for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of Covid-19, for early identification, isolation, testing, and management of suspected and confirmed cases of Covid-19 Officers should ensure preparation for rescue and control related to Covid-19 variant in their respective districts.
According to the Union Health Ministry sources, the next 40 days will be crucial as India may see a surge of COVID cases in mid of January.
The sources said the assessment had been made after analysing the previous trends of the COVID surge the country experienced.
As there have been reports of a surge in COVID cases in some countries, the operational readiness of health facilities is being reviewed in all States and Union Territories in case of another wave.
At least 39 international travellers have tested positive for COVID infection between December 24-26 as the random testing of international passengers arriving at the airports is being done
In light of the surge in COVID in some countries, hospitals across India conducted a Mock drill for COVID. The purpose of the mock drill was to evaluate COVID preparedness in terms of resources, protocol and personnel. (ANI)