New Delhi: The Supreme Court has put an interim stay on the Kerala government's decision to hold Class XI exam physically from September 6. Amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the state, the apex court has come to this decision. The next hearing is scheduled for September 13.
The Supreme Court has expressed concern about the growing number of COVID cases in the state. The court has said that the situation in Kerala is alarming because of continuing rise in virus cases. Children of tender age can't be exposed to risk as around 35,000 cases being reported daily from the state, the court said in its ruling.
Supreme Court puts interim stay on Kerala government's decision to hold Class XI exam physically from September 6th, amid rising cases of #COVID19 in the state. Next hearing on September 13th. pic.twitter.com/LdeO7VOu5n
— ANI (@ANI) September 3, 2021
A bench comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Hrishikesh Roy and Justice CT Ravikumar passed the judgement. "I have been Chief Justice of Kerala and I can say Kerala has one of the best medical infrastructures in the country. Despite that, Kerala has not been able to contain Covid cases," Justice Hrishikesh Roy was quoted saying by NDTV.
Also read: Kerala mulls reopening schools even as COVID cases breach 41-lakh mark
Kerala, which recorded the country's first coronavirus case in early 2020, on September 2 reported 32,097 new COVID-19 infections and 188 deaths, taking the total infection count to 41,22,133 and the fatalities to 21,149. This was the third consecutive day when Kerala reported over 30,000 coronavirus cases. The state alone makes for more than 70% of the COVID cases in the country.
Earlier this week, the Union Health Ministry had said that Kerala needed to step up its efforts to bring down the growing cases of COVID, and called for a "smart and strategic lockdown". The Health Ministry had also warned that if it failed to take effective steps, it could now spread to neighbouring states. The state of Karnataka has already said travellers from Kerala need to provide a negative RT-PCR test no older than 72 hours, despite vaccination status.
