'Students should not be victims': Nara Lokesh asks Jagan to shut down schools

Telugu Desam Party national general secretary Nara Lokesh on Monday urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy to close down schools to ensure the safety of lakhs of students as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the state. Lokesh wrote to the Chief Minister stressing the need for strong preventive measures since most school students are yet to be vaccinated. All possible steps should be taken to ensure that the third wave of COVID-19 does not go out of control, the TDP leader wrote.

Expressing serious concern, Lokesh said, "I bring to your urgent notice the need to shut down schools in Andhra Pradesh in view of the rising COVID-19 cases this past two weeks across India and in the state. Our neighbouring states, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, have already passed orders closing schools and physical classes till the end of January. Kerala has also closed its schools for two weeks starting 21 January."

Lokesh told the CM that a majority of the students were unvaccinated. Vaccine trials and announcements to start immunization for those under 15 years were undertaken only in the last few months. It is imperative that we do not willingly expose these students to any kind of risk, he added.

The TDP leader pointed out that even though fatality rates among students were extremely low, the same cannot be said in respect of the elders in their households. "We must not allow our own students, most of whom are unvaccinated, to become the victims of a third wave now," he said.

He expressed concern that in the past 10 days, new cases recorded in AP have mushroomed from 500 to 5,000 per day. AP's test positivity rate has also gone past 10%. It would be callous of the government to resume classes for students now, with no precautions taken or vaccination not yet done for most of the students.

Further delay on this front will affect millions of lives, not just those of students, all across the state, Lokesh said and added, "If no action is forthcoming, the Telugu Desam Party will once again begin a mass movement to ensure lives of students and people are protected."