Fever surveillance stepped up at TN border after Kerala reports Nipah virus infection
The Hindu
Health officials of 9 TN districts that share a border with Kerala have been alerted, testing to be ramped up
After a 12-year-old boy , Tamil Nadu has stepped up fever surveillance in the border areas, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Sunday. “As soon as we received information about the boy affected by Nipah virus infection this morning, we informed health officials -- deputy directors and joint directors of health -- of nine districts sharing a border with Kerala,” he told reporters after an event held to distribute welfare assistance to beneficiaries in Saidapet constituency. “In addition to this, we have shared information about Nipah virus and have asked officials to hold fever camps and take up testing in the border areas for those coming by road -- whether in two-wheelers or four-wheelers,” he said.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.