Don't reopen schools in haste in Himachal Pradesh: Cong to HP govt

The Congress on Thursday asked the Himachal Pradesh government not to rush in opening schools in the state as there is a risk of local transmission of COVID-19.

Congress spokesperson Jitendra Sharma said online classes for students should continue at least for the month of May.

"Majority of scientists in the world are advising that at the moment COVID-19 can be avoided only through social distancing. In schools, it will be impossible to follow social distancing norms," he said in a press release here.

Sharma said it would not be easy for the state government to monitor things on such a large scale and because of this all efforts being made so far to prevent the spread of coronavirus would be of no use.

Himachal Pradesh has not reported any fresh COVID-19 case in the last seven days, a senior health official said.

So far, 41 coronavirus cases have been reported and the number of active cases in the state is eight, the official said.