The Bengal government on Tuesday asked all district magistrates to use school buildings as safe homes for Covid-19 patients after the second wave hit rural areas most.

The “extremely urgent” order has asked district officials to take immediate measures to make the school buildings sanitised and ready to use. The order came at a time when around 20,000 Covid cases were recorded on an average every day.

“This is to inform you that in view of the current Covid situation in the state and schools being closed, the state government is considering the use of schools for safe home for Covid affected people. I am directed to request you to take immediate measure to see that the school buildings vacated (if occupied) and sanitised,” the order issued by the school education department reads.

Officials said, there were over 15,000 government-aided high schools and high madrasas across Bengal that have their own buildings. They said the move had been taken as the second wave of pandemic hit the state mostly in rural areas unlike its first wave when the infection was restricted in urban and semi-urban pockets.

“According to the trend of infection, a lot of Covid-19 positive reports are coming in from rural belts of the state. In the rural areas, there is no adequate healthcare facility like those in urban areas and the schools are the buildings that can be used as safe homes for mild symptomatic patients,” said a senior health official.

Several districts have already started the process primarily to select school buildings in the areas from where a large number of positive cases are being reported. “We received the order today (Tuesday) and started primary work to identify schools where safe homes can be set up,” said Bidhan Chandra Ray, the Birbhum district magistrate.

The Purulia district administration has already called a meeting with the inspector of schools to implement the order. “We have intimated the district inspectors of schools, both primary and secondary, to know the status of school buildings,” said Rahul Majumdar, the DM of Purulia.

However, a section of district officials said it was impossible to make all schools in the districts safe homes as there would be a crisis of health staff and it would be a problem to monitor them.

“We should not forget that the number of health staff or ground-level healthcare providers is limited. So, we can’t open safe homes at all school buildings. It will become a challenge to monitor them,” said a senior health official.

The Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses, however, claimed that not only schools but all colleges and university buildings should also be used to set up safe homes. The association also demanded involving school teachers to monitor the safe homes after giving them a short training. “Otherwise, the goal will not be successful,” said Chandan Kumar Maity, the general secretary of the association.

Hundreds of school buildings were used as safe homes mainly for migrant workers who stayed there for 14 days to find whether they developed any Covid symptom.