Nipah outbreak: Classes to switch online in Kozhikode till Sep 23

Kozhikode: The district authority has ordered to switch classes in all educational institutions online from September 18 to 23 as part of the preventive measures against the Nipah outbreak. As per the order issued by district collector A Geetha, educational institutions including tuition centres and coaching centres are restricted from conducting physical classes. The decision was taken in the meeting chaired by Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday.

Curbs under Disaster Management Act sections 26, 30 and 34 were imposed on the operation of educational institutions in the district. As per the order, no student should be allowed in the educational institutions. The order is also applicable to anganwadis and madrasas.

Meanwhile, public examinations will be held as per the schedule.

While addressing the media here on Saturday, PWD and Tourism Minister Mohammed Riyas who is also Beypore MLA informed that schools in containment zones can arrange online classes through G-Suite platform. Kerala Infrastructure and Technology of Education has been entrusted with making arrangements for the same.

Barricade at Ayanchery village in Kozhikode. Photo: Reuters

The Kerala Health department had on Friday said it has identified a total of 1,080 people in the contact list of the positive patients and has started collecting samples.

It had earlier announced that everyone who is on the high-risk contact list of the infected persons will be tested.The ICMR's National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune had sent its mobile BSL-3 (Biosafety Level-3) laboratory to Kozhikode to test the samples for the virus in the district.

This is the fourth time the viral infection has been confirmed in the state. It was detected in Kozhikode in 2018 and 2021 and in Ernakulam in 2019. The World Health Organisation and ICMR studies have found that the entire state, not just Kozhikode, is prone to such infections.

(with PTI inputs)

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