‘Rise in COVID-19 cases causing worry among teachers’ Leaders of the A.P. United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) on Tuesday urged the government to halt supply of school kits, being distributed to students under the Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, in view of the sharp spike in COVID-19 cases in the State. In a statement, federation’s State president N. Venkateswarlu and general secretary K.S.S. Prasad said the unprecedented rise in infections triggered panic among the teachers tasked with arranging the kits for distribution. They said that the pandemic had so far claimed the lives of nearly 200 teachers in the State. Many teachers and their family members were undergoing treatment for the virus.