Hyderabad: A committee of experts’ panel set up by the Central Ministry of Home Affairs has predicted that the third wave of COVID-19 is likely to hit the country in September-October. Due to this prediction, the state governments of Telangana and Andhra are in a fix over their decisions to open up educational institutions.
In Andhra Pradesh, educational institutions were opened from August 16 while they will be opened from September 1 in Telangana State.
The experts’ committee was formed by the National Institute of Disaster Management whose report has recently been submitted to the PMO office.
The report predicted that along with the adults even the children could be affected by the pandemic. The committee has recommended an increase in the numbers of doctors, ambulances, ventilators, and other facilities throughout the country. The report also advised to increase the number of child specialists to deal with the situation
The coronavirus situation in both the Telugu states is different. New cases are reported in Andhra Pradesh while the situation in Telangana is under control. But in spite of this and in the wake of the experts’ report, many people are requesting both the state governments to reconsider their decision to open the educational institutions.
The Andhra Pradesh government has started a vaccination campaign to inoculate teaching and nonteaching staff but the process is not yet completed.
There are more than 70 lakh children under 18 attending educational institutions this year.
The Andhra Pradesh government claims that the rate of Corona positive cases has decreased to 5%. The Telangana government had decided to open the educational institutions after 20 months of lockdown. About 85 lakh students are likely to attend the classes in Telangana from September 1.