Andhra Pradesh closes schools for classes 1 to 9 amid COVID-19 spike; SSC, inter exams to be held as per schedule

The Andhra Pradesh Education Board has ordered all schools closed for classes 1 to 9 amid the spike in COVID-19 cases. However, the SSC and Intermediate exams will be held as per the schedule. The inter exams are scheduled to begin from 5 May, while SSC papers will be conducted from 6 June. The state education minister Adimulapu Suresh,  making this announcement. reiterated that all coronavirus precautions are being followed in schools. He further said that exams will be cancelled only if COVID-19 cases witnesses a rapid rise in the coming three weeks. The  government has warned of strict action against those educational institutions found flouting guidelines. Chittoor and East Godavari have emerged as the worst-affected district. In total, there are 2.30 lakh active cases in these two districts alone. There have been 918 deaths in Chittoor and 638 deaths in East Godavari till now. Other districts which are witnessing a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases are Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Guntur, and Nellore districts. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has ruled out another lockdown. He has stressed on more testing and vaccination drives to curb the rising cases. The state recently received 6 lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Of these, 5 lakh doses are of Covishield while 1 lakh doses are of Covaxin. Earlier, the chief minister, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had requested for 60 lakh more doses.