Srinagar, Jan 10 (PTI) Authorities on Monday sealed several coaching centres in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly flouting COVID-19 norms, officials said.

A joint team of officers led by tehsildar Bandipora Sheikh Tariq inspected several coaching centres in the town to review the implementation of Covid appropriate behaviour, an official spokesman said.

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He said the team comprising officers of education and health departments sealed several coaching centres that were operating in violation of the government orders.

Sheikh said in-person teaching has been banned till further orders to safeguard the lives by preventing the further spread of COVID-19.

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Bandipora Deputy Commissioner Owais Ahmad has urged people to follow Covid protocol in letter and spirit.

He said as the graph of the virus is going up in the country, people need to be extra cautious to avoid the third wave.

The deputy commissioner said the administration will not tolerate any violation of Covid protocol and action shall be taken against the violators.

Meanwhile, Coaching Centres Association of Kashmir (CCAK) has expressed disappointment over the administration's decision to close the coaching centres in the wake of the increase in coronavirus cases.

It said whenever there is even a slight increase in Covid cases, the education sector becomes the first casualty.

“After closing down schools and education institutes for years, the government has now closed down the only functional classes which were working hard to compensate for the loss of academics to these students,” a spokesperson of CCAK said.

The association said students are paying a heavy price for the current situation as their studies have been heavily affected.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)