More than 60 students from two nursing colleges in Mysuru have tested positive for COVID-19 during tests conducted about a week ago. Officials from the District Health and Family Welfare Department said the students, who had tested positive, in the two separate cluster outbreaks, been isolated in the district hospital.
Meanwhile, at SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital at Dharwad, with 77 more medical college students testing positive for COVID-19, the total tally rose to 281. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who took stock of the situation on Saturday through a video conference, asked to shut down the OPD (Out Patient Department) at the hospital till Monday and declare the entire campus a containment zone.
At Mysuru, the students were tested about a week ago as part of the random testing taken up by the health officials in educational institutions. All the 380 students at Cauvery Nursing College in Alanahalli and 250 students of St Joseph’s College of Nursing in Bannimantap were tested. “A total of 62 students from both the colleges had tested positive,” Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru Bagadi Gautham told
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While the students who tested positive were isolated in the district hospital, those who had tested negative during the initial test were subjected to re-testing after seven days. “All of them tested negative again,” said an official. Though some of the students, who had tested positive, were also showing symptoms of COVID-19 like cold and fever, there was no need for alarm. The students, aged between 18 and 22, had also informed the officials that they had been vaccinated. Most of the students had taken both the doses.
The students, including the ones from outside the State, who are staying in the hostel, had denied they had any recent travel history when asked by the officials. Officials said such cluster outbreaks would be commonly reported from hostels, colleges, schools and jathres.
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Meanwhile, addressing presspersons in Dharwad on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad Nitesh Patil said that students of SDM College were doing well.
He clarified that the health of all those who had tested positive was stable. Of the 281 COVID-19-positive persons, 25 were health staff including 14 doctors. However barring six persons, all others were asymptomatic and none required oxygen support.
He said that people had been asked to exercise extreme caution in the wake of the sudden spurt on the medical college campus and avoid cultural and social gatherings. Although there was no restriction on holding marriages and other functions, the government will soon come out with fresh guidelines to contain the infection from spreading, he said.
Mr. Patil said that on the campus that sees a total of 3,500 persons, the swab collection process had been expedited by deploying eleven teams. The swabs of patients and health staff were being collected and the test results of 1,800 persons were awaited.