US schools record fresh COVID-19 cases amid reopenings

Some schools in the US have recorded new cases of the COVID-19 shortly after they resumed activities following weeks of lockdown.

According to BBC, a student of one of such schools at Indiana tested positive for the novel coronavirus — barely a few hours after classes resumed.

The school, which was among the first to reopen in the US, however, said it has enacted its COVID-19 protocol while the infected student had been isolated.

The development comes after the largest school district in Gwinnett County, Georgia, confirmed that roughly 260 of its employees have either been exposed to the infections or tested positive for the virus ahead of planned resumption.

The school also announced that it would commence online classes on August 12.

Mixed reactions have continued to trail reopening of schools in the US which is one of the worst-hit countries by the pandemic.

Despite the surge in the COVID-19 cases in the country, President Donald Trump has insisted that schools would reopen by fall.

The US has recorded about five million confirmed cases of the killer virus with over 158,000 deaths reported as of Monday, according to worldometers.

The development also comes at about the same time when the Nigerian government fixed August 4, for the reopening of schools for students in exit classes in secondary schools as well as the 104 unity colleges.

The decision, the government said, was to afford the students time to prepare for the West African Examination Council (WAEC) billed for August 17.

Nigeria has over 43,000 confirmed cases of the novel disease and 888 deaths as of the time this report was filed.