Parents seek closure of schools

‘Social distancing norms given the go-by in many institutions’

With the steady increase in the COVID-19 cases in the district, parents are in a grip of fear and seek closure of schools. After almost a span of 10 months, the educational institutions started functioning in February following instructions from the State government. Though the attendance was good in the first few weeks, it is said to be gradually declining in many schools due to the increasing number of infections in the second wave. A number of students and teachers have already tested positive at Gopalapatnam, Anakapalle, Atchutapuuram, Anandapuram and a few other areas in the last one month. In the last 18 days, the district has reported more than 6,000 new infections and 23 persons died. The active cases were just 24 on March 1, but on Sunday, they were 4,062.