Dimapur schools ordered to close from Aug 21 to 26 to contain conjunctivitis

HT Correspondent
DIMAPUR, Aug 19: With rising cases of conjunctivitis among school children, the Dimapur district administration has ordered suspension of physical classes in schools in the district from August 21 to August 26.
In an order on Saturday, deputy commissioner Sachin Jaiswal said in the light of reported spike in conjunctivitis cases among school children in the district and in consultation with the district officials of the health and family welfare department and school education department and considering the severity of the spread of the infection and number of cases, it has been decided that the physical classes in schools will remain suspended from August 21 to August 26 to contain the spread of the infection among the school-going students.
The DC has requested the schools to explore alternate options like online classes during the period.
On August 17, Dimapur chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Limatula Aier raised concern over the rise in conjunctivitis cases in Dimapur, especially among school-going children.
Aier said they had been receiving reports of a lot of conjunctivitis cases from hospitals in Dimapur, which is a health concern.
The CMO also held a meeting with the district administration, school education department and teachers’ association on August 17 to apprise them of the matter and on how best to tackle this issue.
Aier said more information and data will be collected from all the educational institutions in the coming days.
Senior specialist of Dimapur district hospital Dr Asongla Chang said more than 700 cases were reported from the hospitals since the last week of July.
She said taking into account the number of cases being reported at the district hospital, the total number of cases in Dimapur could be much higher if the tally from private hospitals is added.
Chang also made mention of the occurrence of pharyngoconjunctivitis cases among children. The symptoms pharyngoconjunctivitis include fever, sore throat and cough, she said.