In a worrying localised outbreak of Covid-19 in Karnataka, the number of people infected reached 281 in Dharwad’s SDM college of Medical Sciences, according to reports. As infection numbers increase, the district administration has declared holidays for all educational institutes situated around 500 meters of the college.
Ninety-nine people had tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, news agency ANI reported. District collector Nitish Patil said only six patients were displaying symptoms. The Hindu has reported that the Dharwad district administration had sealed the entire campus, and closed the entry and exit points as a precautionary measure.
Reacting to the worrying development, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said he had called a meeting of experts of health and disaster departments on Saturday in view of the surge in Covid-19 cases in Kerala and clusters in a few colleges in Dharwad and Bengaluru.
A high alert was sounded after the cases rose to 182 on Friday. As many as 66 of them had tested positive by Thursday morning and the second phase of test results confirmed infection among 116 more.
District Commissioner Nitesh Patil said that on November 17, there was a function at the auditorium where a marriage ceremony was also held a couple of days later. Another function was held there on November 25. An appeal has been made to all attendees to take Covid-19 tests.
Since students from all the states study in the college, parents of 182 medical students have been advised to get themselves tested if they had met their wards last week, he explained.
“We will get a clear picture by Saturday on Covid situation. The samples are being tested at DIMHANS, KIMS and SDM labs,” he had added.
According to college sources, the students caught infection after attending a function at an auditorium in the premises on November 17. About 200 students and few parents had also participated in the event.
All the affected medical students are fully vaccinated and the symptoms are not serious, they said.
Until now, no infection has been reported outside and surrounding areas of the college campus. The district commissioner has appealed to the people to immediately get themselves tested at nearby Primary Health Centre in case of any symptom. “Everyone should take precautions and follow Covid guidelines,” he said.
Two hostels on the premises have been sealed. The infected students are undergoing treatment in their hostel rooms. The movements are totally restricted and all possible measures are being taken to prevent infection from spreading.
Since three events, including a marriage function, have taken place at the auditorium, the district administration is carefully watching the turn of events.
Meanwhile, 34 students of an international boarding school in Bengaluru had tested positive two days ago. The government and health department are repeatedly making appeals to people not to neglect social distancing and using masks at public places.
In the last week of October, 32 students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya residential school of Galibeedu village near Madikeri tested had positive for Covid in Kodagu district of Karnataka bordering Kerala.
With inputs from IANS.
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