West Bengal closes all educational institutions from Monday

All schools, colleges and other educational institutions in West Bengal will be closed from Monday onwards, Chief Secretary of the state HK Dwivedi announced on January 2, NDTV reports. 

This is one of the many measures announced by the state government today, in view of the current Covid-19 situation.

The decision to close schools was taken after reviewing the current Covid situation in the state and amid concerns of the first-spreading Omicron verient, a government statement said.

“All academic activities in schools, colleges and universities shall remain closed. Only administrative activities shall be permitted with 50% of employees at a time,” the government order reads.

West Bengal is the second state in the country to completely shut down educational institutions this month.

Earlier this week, the Delhi government had decided to close all educational institutions to contain the spread of the new variant.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asked officials to review the overall COVID-19 situation in the state and suggested schools, colleges might be shut down for some time if the situation demands.

"Covid-19 cases are on the rise... there are a few Omicron cases also. So, review the situation in the state. We may consider closing down schools and colleges for some time," Banerjee had told officials at the meeting.

Two days later, on December 31, West Bengal School Education Department asked teachers and non-teaching staffers having cough, cold or mild fever to not attend schools till they test negative for COVID-19.

West Bengal reported 4 thousand 512 new Covid-19 cases yesterday. The number of active cases in the state is 13 thousand 300 which is the third-highest in the country after Maharashtra and Kerala.