226 primary school teachers, students, officials infected with virus: State minister

A total of 226 teachers, students and officials of different primary schools across the country have so far been infected with novel coronavirus, reports UNB.

State minister for primary and mass education Md Zakir Hossain made the disclosure on Saturday while addressing a virtual meeting organised by BRAC on the impact of general holidays, imposed to tackle the epidemic, on students.

“Among the infected ones, there are 176 teachers, 26 officials, 12 other staff and 12 students,” Zakir Hossain said, adding that four of them have died of COVID-19.

State minister Zakir lauded the teachers and other staff of the sector as they discharged their duties even during the pandemic.

All educational institutions across the country were declared shut on 16 March when the coronavirus started taking a severe turn in the country. No classes have been held since that day, except some online classes.

Although the authorities eased the restrictive measures and reopened all offices on a limited scale at the beginning of June, educational institutions remained out of its purview.

On 15 June, the government announced to extend the closure of all the educational institutions till 6 August, considering the worsening virus situation.