A renowned school in Noida has been closed after the father of a class 6 student tested positive for the novel coronavirus yesterday.

The Delhi resident reportedly contracted the virus in Italy and had taken part in a birthday party last week that was attended by his children as well as several other students of the school. The exams that were scheduled from today (March 3) have been cancelled and postponed to a later date. Several people, who came in contact with the infected individual over the last few days have been shifted to a hospital in the national capital for tests.

The circular issued by the school management read, "Due to certain unavoidable circumstances, we will be postponing the exams scheduled today. The new dates will be communicated shortly. The Board exams will continue as normal. The children of classes 7-11 may come for extra classes if they wish. Class 6 and IGCSE classes continue with the study leave."

The novel coronavirus, now officially called Covid-19, has claimed the lives of more than 3000 people and infected over 80000 people across the world. The virus was first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in China. As the death toll and overall cases began rising rapidly across the world, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency.