Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government has entrusted the police with the responsibility of maintaining safety of students when the school reopens on November 1.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijyan said on Saturday that instructions had already been given to the state police chief and the health and education departments to prepare a detailed project in this regard.
“The station house officer in-charge of a police station would call a meeting of the managers and the headmasters of schools in the vicinity to discuss the students' safety issues. The police should ensure the efficacy of school vehicles. The police can take the help of the Motor Vehicle Department in this regard,'' he said.
The repair of school buses should be completed before October 20. The drivers of school buses should have a minimum of 10 years experience in their field. In every school, a teacher will be appointed as safety officer. The Station House Officers should make periodic visits to schools to ensure that the safety measures are being implemented properly.
Compensation as per revised list
The chief Minister made it clear that the compensation announced by the central government to the dependents of those who had died due to COVID-19 would be distributed by the state government soon.
“There was no such mistake, as projected by the Opposition, in calculating the COVID-19 deaths. There are many changes now in the guidelines fixed for declaring COVID-19 deaths. The new norms like compensation for those who died after being tested COVID positive have led to the rise in the number of COVID-19 deaths. The dependents of all those who are in the revised list will be given compensation. All the procedures will be done online,'' he said.
Panel to probe complaints
The review meeting held to discuss COVID-19 situation in the state has decided to appoint a committee under the leadership of additional district magistrate (ADM) to look into complaints regarding the declaration of COVID-19 dead cases. A guideline on this would be released within a week. By October 1, the complaint cell will start functioning.
8% dip in number of patients
According to the chief minister, there is an eight percent dip in the number of COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at hospitals this week compared to last week. The number of re-infection cases has come down. Re-infection cases are mostly reported in Pathanamthitta, Malappuram and Kasaragod districts. The re-infection was seen more in youngsters.
About 57.6 per cent of COVID deaths happened to those who were not vaccinated. Of the dead patients, 26.3 per cent took only the first dose of vaccine while 7.9 per cent took both doses of vaccine.