A new cluster with 60 COVID-19 positive cases has been detected at the Sri Chaitanya Girls’ Residential School, near Electronics City.
Of the 60 students who have tested positive, one student, who had high fever, has been admitted to Lady Curzon and Bowring Hospital, one is under home quarantine, while the remaining 58 students are under quarantine in the hostel. The school, which had reopened on September 5, will now remain closed till October 20.
There were 485 students in the hostel and 57 staff, including 22 teachers. On September 26, one hostel inmate, said to be from Ballari, developed symptoms, including fever, vomiting and diarrhoea, and tested positive for COVID-19, BBMP’s health officials said.
G. Srinivas, District Health Officer, told The Hindu that the remaining students were tested on September 27. Of the 105 students who underwent Rapid Antigen Test, 27 tested positive; and of the 424 students who took the RT-PCR test, 33 tested positive.
BBMP officials said the 58 students, who are all asymptomatic and in the isolation facility in the school campus, are being taken care of by the medical staff of a private hospital.
Dr. Srinivas said of the 60 students who had tested positive for COVID-19, 14 are from Tamil Nadu and 46 from different parts of the State. The hostel earlier had four inmates sharing one room.
“Now, this has been changed to two inmates per room. Also, with the school now closed, we have indicated to the school management to resume online classes if needed,” he said.
With the news of the cluster spreading, parents started gathering at the school wanting to take back their wards home. Dr. Srinivas said one student had already been sent with her parents to Hosur.
“We have sanitised the hostel and school premises, apart from providing pulse oximeters, sanitisers, etc. We are closely monitoring the situation,” he told The Hindu .
