Coronavirus: Schools across the country had been shut since March
Students from Classes 9 to 12 can start attending schools in Andhra Pradesh from today after coronavirus lockdown guidelines were eased as part of the "Unlock5" plan. The guidelines have been eased till the next update till November 30. The classes will be held for half a day every other day.
Assam and Rajasthan will also reopen schools today.
Students from Classes 6 to 8 can start going to school from November 23, while those in primary classes can go to school from December 14.
Schools with more than 750 students will be allowed to open once every three days and they will have to provide midday meal to those attending, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had announced in a video conference on October 20.
He had said online classes will be conducted for the students who don't want to attend physical classes because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools across the country had been shut since March, when the centre announced the first leg of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown. The central government, the highest executive authority in matters related to the pandemic, recently allowed the reopening of schools with strict safety protocols under its "Unlock5" guidelines.
Another 2,618 cases were added to Andhra Pradesh's COVID-19 tally on Sunday, taking the total to 8,25,966, news agency PTI reported. A total of 3,509 patients recovered from the disease while 16 more died in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday.
Andhra Pradesh has claimed its recovery rate is highest in the country at over 96 per cent.
The latest bulletin said the state has 23,668 active cases after a total of 7,95,592 recoveries and 6,706 deaths. Chittoor district reported the highest number of cases with 423, followed by Guntur 387, Krishna 328, West Godavari 296, East Godavari 291 and Prakasam 255 in 24 hours.