In view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in Telangana, the KCR government has decided to go in for a shutdown of schools and other educational institutions in the State starting tomorrow (March 24).

Medical colleges have been exempted from the lockdown. The State Education Minister today said that the shutting down of schools has been decided upon in the wake of rising cases.

"The lockdown is applicable to all private and government-run schools, including hostels and gurukuls. Only medical colleges are exempt. Online classes will have to be conducted by schools," the Minister said.

Telangana has seen more than 412 cases for the first time in several weeks this week. For the first time this year, the GHMC number touched 100 cases.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra, Chandigarh and Punjab are going through an alarming increase, Prof. Shamika Ravi today said. In the last of these States, about 81% of new cases belong to the UK variant. As is known, the variant is notorious for being far more infectious than the old variant.