Students write SSLC exams across Karnataka amid covid concerns

News Network

July 19, 2021

Mangaluru, July 19: The two-day Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) or class 10 exams began across the state on Monday, amid Covid-19 concerns. As many as 8.76 lakh students have registered for the examination.

This is for the second consecutive year that the Department of Primary and Secondary Education is conducting the SSLC examinations amid the pandemic.

Due to Covid-19 situation, for the first time, the examinations have been reduced from six days to two days, with students writing one paper for three subjects per day.

On Monday, students are writing the exam for core subjects mathematics, science and social science, while on July 22 there will be exams for languages such as Kannada, English, Hindi, Sanskrit.

The department this year has increased the number of examination centres and teachers on duty, Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board officials have said, adding that as many as 1.19 lakh staff have been deployed for 73,064 exam halls in 4,885 centres across the state.

Special arrangements have been made for 23 students who have tested positive for Covid-19, to write the exams at the Covid Care Centres in their respective districts.

All the necessary arrangements have been made at the exam centres keeping the pandemic situation in mind, wherein only 12 students, one per bench, will be seated in a classroom and those with symptoms will be allowed to take the exam in a separate room, officials said.

All the staff involved in examination duty have received at least one dose of vaccination, the official added.

The exam will be in the form of multiple-choice questions and the students will have to mark the right answers on the Optical Mark Reading (OMR) sheet given to them.

Wishing all the students appearing for SSLC exams good luck, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa in a tweet said, "I urge my young friends to relax and focus on exams. I assure parents that our government has made all arrangements to ensure exams are held safely."

Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar too in a tweet assured parents that the exam centres are safe for students and the government has taken all necessary measures to conduct the exams in a safe environment.

Dakshina Kannada

In Dakshina Kannada, the SSLC exams are being held in 179 examination centre this time.

As many as 32,636 students have registered for the exam in the district. Of which, 441 students are from neighbouring Kasargod district, studying in various schools in Dakshina Kannada. The district administration had made arrangements to ferry students from the border areas. Nine Covid-19 positive students who had registered for the exam have been arranged to write exams in Covid Care Centres in the taluk headquarters.

As the students entered the school premises, the body temperature was checked and their hands were sanitised.

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No cases yet, but vigilance high: Karnataka braces for Nipah threat

News Network

February 3,2026

Bengaluru: Following reports of fresh Nipah virus (NiV) cases in West Bengal and heightened vigilance across parts of Southeast Asia, the Karnataka Health Department has placed the state on high alert and activated emergency preparedness protocols.

Health officials said enhanced surveillance measures have been initiated after two healthcare workers in Barasat, West Bengal, tested positive for the virus earlier this month. While no cases have been reported in Karnataka so far, authorities said the state’s past exposure to Nipah outbreaks and high inter-state mobility warranted preventive action.

Officials have directed district health teams to intensify monitoring, particularly at hospitals and points of entry, and to ensure early detection and isolation of suspected cases.

High Mortality Virus with Multiple Transmission Routes

Nipah virus is a zoonotic disease that can spread from animals to humans and has a reported fatality rate ranging between 60 and 75 per cent. Fruit bats, also known as flying foxes, are the natural reservoirs of the virus and can transmit it by contaminating food sources with saliva or urine.

Known modes of transmission include:

•   Contaminated food: Consumption of fruits partially eaten by bats or raw date-palm sap
•   Animal contact: Exposure to infected pigs or other animals
•   Human-to-human transmission: Close contact with body fluids of infected persons, particularly in healthcare settings

Symptoms and Disease Progression

The incubation period typically ranges from 4 to 14 days, though delayed onset has also been reported. Early symptoms often resemble common viral infections, making prompt clinical suspicion critical.

•   Initial symptoms: Fever, headache, body aches, fatigue, sore throat
•   Progressive symptoms: Drowsiness, disorientation, altered mental state
•   Severe stage: Seizures, neck stiffness and acute encephalitis, which can rapidly progress to coma

Public Health Advisory

The Health Department has issued precautionary guidelines urging the public to adopt risk-avoidance practices to prevent any local spillover.

Do’s
•   Wash fruits thoroughly before consumption
•   Drink boiled and cooled water
•   Use protective equipment while handling livestock
•   Maintain strict hand hygiene

Don’ts
•   Avoid fruits found on the ground or showing bite marks
•   Do not consume beverages made from raw tree sap, including toddy
•   Avoid areas with dense bat populations
•   Do not handle sick or dead animals

Preparedness Measures

Officials confirmed that isolation wards are being readied in major government hospitals and that medical staff are being sensitised to identify early warning signs.

“There is no cause for panic, but there is a need for heightened vigilance,” a senior health official said, adding that there is currently no approved vaccine or specific antiviral treatment for Nipah, and care remains largely supportive.

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