Delhi education minister says schools unlikely to reopen until COVID-19 vaccine available
Xinhua
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A medical staff (C) takes a sample from a woman that came with a child for a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) for the Covid-19 coronavirus at a temporary test centre in a school in New Delhi on September 6, 2020. (Photo: AFP)

NEW DELHI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Schools in India's national capital are unlikely to reopen until a vaccine against COVID-19 is made available, officials said Wednesday.
The statement was made by Delhi deputy chief minister and education minister Manish Sisodia.
"Unless the vaccine becomes available and until we don't get the surety that our children are safe, reopening of schools will be a foolish step," Sisodia told a local television news channel.
Schools in the national capital have been closed since March 16, immediately after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some states have ordered the reopening of schools. However, in Delhi, the schools remain shut.
COVID-19 cases have shown an upward spiral in Delhi since the beginning of November.
Delhi is currently the sixth most affected state in the country with 540,541 COVID-19 cases and 8,621 related deaths.
On Wednesday morning the federal health ministry said the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 9,222,216 and the death toll has risen to 134,699.
India is in the grip of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and globally it is the second worst-hit country by the COVID-19.