In what could lessen the anxieties of parents and authorities, the number of Covid cases among children has remained more or less the same after schools started in-person classes for students between Std VIII and Std XII two weeks ago. In the first 15 days of this month, the population of patients between 10 and 19 years rose from 7.3 per cent to 7.8 per cent of all cases in the city.

During the first wave, 18,094 children aged below 19 years were infected between March 2020 and February 2021. Their share of overall cases was 5.7 per cent. The cases among children increased in the second wave to over 13 per cent of all cases in June. Since then, it had hovered around 10 per cent. Encouraged by falling numbers and an uptick in vaccination, the state government and local bodies decided to reopen schools from October 4 for Std VIII-XII students with 50 per cent capacity and parents’ consent.