Odisha decides not to reopen schools for Classes 1-5 now, as COVID cases continue to skyrocket

With COVID cases rising across the country, owing to the new Omicron variant of the virus, states are closing their schools. The latest on the list is Odisha. Amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the Odisha government on Sunday said that it was withholding its decision to reopen schools for students of Classes 1 to 5 from Monday.

School and Mass Education Minister SR Dash, in a statement, said the decision was taken after officials visited various primary schools across the state and held discussions with the stakeholders. “Keeping in view the rise in a number of daily cases and based on the feedback provided by parents across the state, we have decided not to reopen schools for students of Classes 1 to 5 from January 3,” he stated.

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Dash, however, maintained that physical classes for students of Classes 6 to 10 will continue for now. He also said that offline examination, as scheduled earlier, will be conducted adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Odisha, on Sunday, registered 424 more Coronavirus cases. Sixty-seven of the new patients are children below 18 years of age.