Kerala govt to make list of unvaccinated teachers public amid omicron scare

In an unprecedented move, Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Friday said that a list of teachers who are still not vaccinated against COVID-19 will be published, following which, a show-cause notice will be sent to them. The state Education Ministry decided to take this step against teachers who are reluctant to take vaccine jabs even a month after schools reopened in the state.

The state minister said, "Though vaccination is a personal decision, one should not be a liability to the whole society."

As per the data collected by the state before the schools had reopened, around 2282 teachers and 327 staff had not taken their COVID-19 vaccines, however, after that, the number increased to 5,000 teachers, said reports. The state education minister also urged everyone to cooperate with the government's decisions for the health of the people. 

On November 1, the schools of the state were re-opened after a period of one-and-a-half years for Classes 1 to 7, 10 and 12 with COVID-19 protocols, in a staggered manner. 

COVID-19 cases In Kerala

Kerala on Thursday recorded 4,700 fresh COVID-19 cases and 320 deaths, raising the caseload to 51,40,090 and the toll to 40,855 respectively, the State government said. Of the 320 deaths, 66 were reported over the last few days and 254 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, an official press release said.

With 4,128 more people recovering from the virus since Wednesday, the total recoveries reached 50,66,034 and the active cases 44,376, the release said. As many as 59,702 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, it said.

Among the 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest with 850 fresh cases followed by Ernakulam 794 and Kozhikode 612. Of the new cases, 40 were health workers, 18 from outside the State and 4,437 were infected through contact with the source of it not being clear in 205. There are currently 1,55,639 people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 1,50,837 are in home or institutional quarantine and 4,802 in hospitals, the release said. 

(With PTI Inputs)