Four more teachers died of Covid-19 on Thursday after doing panchayat poll duty in Bijnor, taking the toll to 12 in the district, said teachers' unions, even as three pradhan candidates in the Uttar Pradesh rural polls and the son of a panchayat member candidate died within 24 hours, with at least two succumbing to Covid.
Teachers’ unions say 577 teachers have died due to Covid after doing duty in the four-phase panchayat polls. Uttar Pradesh Prathamik Shikshak Sangh said this figure rose to 702 on Thursday.
Sudhir Kumar, district president of Uttar Pradesh Primary Teachers Association, said, “Panchayat polls have played a key role in the dramatic rise in Covid-19 cases in the state. Government employees got infected while discharging poll duties.”