'52 teachers recruited for election duty in Bidar have died of COVID-19'

As many as 52 teachers from Bidar, who were deployed on duty pertaining to the by-election and Bidar municipal election from April 1 to May 14, have died due to COVID-19.

Bidar (Karnataka): As many as 52 teachers from Bidar, who were deployed on duty pertaining to the by-election and Bidar municipal election from April 1 to May 14, have died due to COVID-19.

A total of 1,434 teachers and non-teaching staff from Bidar were recruited for election duty. All of them had undergone RT-PCR test. Of these, 67 were tested positive for COVID-19. These 67 infected teachers were exempted from election duty. It is believed that all the 52 teachers who died may have contracted the virus during election duty.

Currently, 26 teachers, who have been tested positive for COVID-19, are either being treated at hospitals or are in home isolation.

Commenting on this, Deputy Director of Public Instruction, Bidar, TR Dodde said elections were being carried out with strict measures. "Everybody wore masks, maintained social distance and used sanitizers. We are yet to ascertain how the teachers contracted the virus."