As Tamil Nadu is into the third day of the school reopening on Saturday, the developments of students and teachers testing positive for the Covid-19 viral infection had distressed the state and levied a big challenge to the government. Alarming that the school reopening has become a cause of concern, the schools are staying vigil despite the vaccinations and guidelines and till Thursday, three students and a school teacher had tested positive for the disease.

On Friday, two more teachers of the same school had confirmed to have contracted the disease. According to reports, these two teachers were handling higher secondary classes at Jawahar Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Neyveli, Cuddalore and they had given the swab samples on September 1, when the schools had reopened. Their test results had come positive on Friday after which the school management has asked the students and other staff members who had come in direct contact with both of the teachers to isolate themselves. 

Earlier on Thursday, a teacher attached to a government girls' higher secondary school in Cuddalore had tested positive for the pandemic, even after receiving two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Health officials said that the teacher, who attended the school on September 1, had complained of nausea and vomiting on Thursday. She was then confirmed to have contracted the pandemic and she was isolated immediately. On the front of pupils, three students had tested positive so far as of Friday. 

Of these three students, two were from girl students in Ariyalur. One of the students is studying in Class 12 at Annai Lourd Higher Secondary School in Varadarajanpettai. She was staying at the hostel and as she developed symptoms, she had given her swab samples at the government hospital in Jayankondam and she had attended the classes on Thursday. However, the sample result has confirmed that she has contracted the disease and she was admitted to the government hospital for further treatment. 

In the other case, a girl student of Class 9 studying at Nirmala girls higher secondary school had reported higher body temperature on Wednesday at the school and she had gone through the testing and stayed off from the classes on Thursday. Shockingly, she has tested positive and was later moved for treatment. While two students belong to Ariyalur, another student had tested positive in the Namakkal district. A Class 10 student studying at a government high school near Thiruchengode in the Namakkal district has tested positive for the Covid-19 viral infection and she has been undergoing treatment. 

The health officials in the district had collected samples from the students who had come to close contact with the infected student. The student was asymptomatic and the officials had affirmed that there was no reason for panic and the samples have been collected from family members of the students and from 30 students and teachers of the school randomly for tests. The back-to-back developments of students and teachers being vulnerable and contracting the viral infection had poured an ordeal to the state government even as there have been predictions and warnings of the third wave of the pandemic that would make young people more susceptible. 

The developments had become a cause of concern as several people blow an alarm that the government has taken a hasty decision of reopening the schools and sections of people urge the government to enhance measures to curb the spread among the students and teachers. On Friday, actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan took to social media and wrote, "Reports are coming that students and teachers got Covid-19 in some places in two days after the school reopening. These were signals that we have to be more careful and cautious."