Hyderabad, Jan 16 (IANS): The government of Telangana has decided to extend holidays for all educational institutions in the state till January 30 in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar announced on Sunday that it has been decided to extend the vacation of all educational institutions in Telangana till January 30.

The announcement came a day before the educational institutions were to re-open after nine-day holidays.

Earlier on January 3, the government had declared holidays for all educational institutions in the state from January 8 to January 16 in view of the spike in Covid-19 cases and also on account of Sankranti festival.

Since the curbs imposed to check the spread of Covid are already in force, the medical and health department had recommended to the government to extend the holidays for schools and colleges.

Rallies, public meetings and other public gatherings remained prohibited in the state to curb the spread of Covid cases.

The educational institutions in the state had reopened for physical classes from September for the first time for academic year 2021-22.

Though some residential schools had reported dozens of Covid cases last month, the authorities had not suspended physical classes.

The state has seen a surge in Covid cases since the beginning of the new year. On Saturday, the state reported 1,963 new Covid cases.

The daily count dropped from 2,398 on Friday due to fewer tests conducted due to holiday.