As many as 33 more COVID-19 cases have been reported from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) on Wednesday, 27 April, the Tamil Nadu government said.
The state has so far tested 4, 974 samples from the campus. Out of this, 145 have been found positive for the virus, reported news agency PTI.
'No New Variants Detected': State Govt
"All the 25 samples lifted from IIT-M sent for whole genomic sequencing revealed the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron and no new variant has been detected. Already, in March, 93 percent of the results had revealed BA.2 Omicron sub-variant," the government said.
Background
On Tuesday, 26 April, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said that 32 new cases were reported in IIT-M, taking the institute's total case count to 111.
IIT-Madras emerged as a COVID-19 Cluster last week after students from various hostels on the campus began testing positive for the virus. On Friday, 22 April, officials told NDTV that the campus reported 30 cases in the past three days. Following this, testing was ramped up in IIT-M and more cases were identified in the last few days.
In December 2020, more than 183 students and staffers tested positive at IIT-Madras, making it the largest COVID cluster. Lack of social distancing and sharing of food in the mess were reported to be the primary reasons for the spread of the infection.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday, reported 77 new COVID-19 cases, taking the state's total caseload to 34.53 lakh. However, no new deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. As many as 34 people recovered in the last 24 hours taking the state's recovery count to 34.15 lakh. Tamil Nadu currently has 447 active cases.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the health secretary requested everyone to follow COVID-19 appropriate behavior while they were in public places. He also urged all eligible persons to get vaccinated.
(With inputs from NDTV, PTI.)
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