City school student tests +ve; health dept checks 103 kids
CHENNAI: A week after schools were reopened, a Class 10 student of a private school in Chennai tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. Officials said they tested 103 other students, and all of them were negative.
Inirao (14) of Mylapore, a Class 10 student at Grove School in Alwarpet, is now undergoing treatment at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Guindy.
Dr Manish S Narnaware, Deputy Commissioner (Health), Greater Chennai Corporation, said the girl had symptoms like body pain on the day school reopened. Her samples were sent to a laboratory on September 3, and the results that they received the next day showed she had the virus.
“Her parents, too, are positive; we came to know that it was transmitted from her father who had a recent travel history to Bengaluru. After she was tested positive, 103 of her contacts at school were traced and tested. All their results are negative,” he added.
So far, around 20 students and 10 teachers across the State have tested positive since school reopened on September 1. Health officials are now planning to take random tests of school students across the State, officials added.
“If any student or teacher is tested positive, the school will be sealed and sanitised completely. They will be given immediate medical attention and monitored. Random COVID tests will be done for school students in the State,” said Health Minister Ma Subramanian.