Nashik, Jan 4: After a gap of more than nine months, schools for students studying in classes 9 to 12 reopened in Nashik district of Maharashtra on Monday even as 62 teachers tested positive for COVID-19 before resuming duties, officials said.

Out of the 1,324 schools in rural Nashik and city limits, as many as 846 started classes for students of standards 9 to 12, said a release from the district administration.

As many as 1,21,579 students attended schools which were shut since March-end last year due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the subsequent lockdown, it said. Schools to Reopen for Classes 5 to 8 Post Health Department Nod, Says Maharashtra Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad.

Prior to reopening the schools, RT-PCR tests of 7,063 headmasters/teachers and 2,500 non-teaching staff members were conducted, the release said.

Out of these, 62 headmasters/teachers and 10 non- teaching staffers tested positive for COVID-19, it said.

As per the new norms, 50 per cent of the students will attend the school on one day and the remaining will come the next day, the release said.

Observing measures to prevent the COVID-19 spread such as sanitisation of schools, thermal scanning, use of masks and hand sanitisers and maintaining social distance have been made compulsory for teachers, non-teaching staff and students.

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