A day after a COVID-19 cluster was reported from the IIT-Madras campus, the number of persons tested positive for the pandemic has gone up to 183. Of the 700 students who were tested on Monday, 104 turned out to be positive, taking the total number of cases to 183.
All the 183 students have been admitted to the King Institute of Preventive Medicine & Research, Guindy, in Chennai, for treatment. The next set of tests will be conducted after 10 days among the remaining students.
“We have advised the students and the staff at the campus and at the hostel not to panic. We have advised them about the precautions to be followed. The health department is in constant follow-up with the institute administration and the students. My advise to the people is to compulsorily wear a mask,” health secretary J. Radhakrishnan told the media.
The Chennai city corporation, according to its commissioner Prakash, has asked all the other universities and colleges across the city, to follow the COVID-19 protocols, if the hostels and messes are open for the final year students. The zonal officials have been given the task of visiting the educational institutions to carry out tests and ensure safety in every campus.
According to sources in IIT-Madras, students and research scholars have been asked to strictly stay inside their hostel rooms, and food will be served at their door steps. IIT-Madras has been functioning on limited capacity with 10 per cent students in the hostels. “All these students are research scholars who need to carry out experimental work in the labs. As soon as a spurt in symptomatic cases was reported by some students residing in the hostels, the institute consulted the civic authorities and has arranged for all students residing in hostels to be tested for COVID-19. To be cautious, all students have been asked to remain in their rooms and packed food is being supplied to the students in the hostels,” said an official statement from IIT-Madras.
IIT-Madras has been permitting research scholars who need to do experimental work to return to campus since August in a calibrated manner— with a 14-day quarantine and testing of each returnee. “Our capacity to quarantine is limited, and this limits the rate at which we can bring back scholars to the hostels. Project staff working on research projects and staying in the city have also been coming to work in the labs, once this was permitted by the government. A SoP is in place to determine how many scholars and project staff can work safely in each lab based on its size, ventilation,” said the statement.
The institute has already shut down the libraries, labs and other common places in the campus. “We are constantly in touch with the civic authorities and following all protocols. The health authorities and the institute are working closely to contain this outbreak by saturation testing and isolation of all positive cases. The COVID-19 positive students are admitted in the COVID Care Centre in Guindy and all of them are reported stable and keeping well,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the Anna University campus, a few meters away from the IIT- Madras campus, appears to be turning into another COVID-19 cluster. “RT PCR tests will be conducted on all the four blocks in the hostel where the students are staying,” said S. Iniyan, dean, College of Engineering in Guindy. The Anna University functions from two campuses – College of Engineering, Guindy and Madras Institute of Technology, Chrompet.
On Tuesday, one of the students in the College of Engineering hostel reported severe COVID-19 symptoms. Following this, around 400 of the total 1,200 students in the campus have been taken for first round of testing. The government had recently allowed the Anna University to reopen classes for UG final year students as they will have to appear for exams.
Following this, all the other educational institutions across the state, which were reopened for research scholars and final year students have been advised to be cautious and follow COVID-19 protocol.
