The total number of COVID-19 cases has increased to 17 in a cluster that was found in a nursing college in Marasur in Bengaluru’s Anekal, The News Minute reported. Earlier, 12 students of the Spurthy Nursing college had tested positive for coronavirus.
At least 11 of them were fully vaccinated. One student was reportedly not vaccinated as she had tested positive for COVID in June this year, and got infected with the virus, a second time now.
All the students have been isolated and have not shown any severe symptoms requiring hospitalisation.
All the students are hostelites of the college, pursuing first year BSc Nursing course.
Infected Students Are Kept Under Isolation
The infected college students are currently in isolation as per COVID guidelines at the COVID Care Centre Jigani, South Bengaluru. Three of the students who are asymptomatic have gone to their respective hometowns – two have gone to Kerala and one has gone to Mumbai – and are under home isolation.
The District Health Officer Bangalore has sent a cross notification to the respective states. One of the infected students is symptomatic but is RT-PCR negative. The student has been kept under observation at the COVID Care Centre Jigani.
Health officials said that the medical college had been testing all its students and staff, regularly, once in every fifteen days. This came after the college witnessed a previous COVID outbreak, where 11 of its students, with travel history from Kerala tested positive for the virus.
College Is Taking All Precautions to Prevent Further Virus Spread
Following the outbreak, the college is taking all precautionary measures to prevent any further spread of the virus, the district health officials informed. Steps have been taken to test all primary contacts and remaining students of the college.
All staff of the college have been vaccinated with both doses of the vaccine. Besides, the college has also decided to test all its staff and students from Friday, 26 November.
A team of officials including the DSO Bangalore, Taluk Health officer (THO) Anekal and Medical officer of Marasur visited the college and apprised its administration about the necessary precautionary measures that need to be followed and highlighted COVID appropriate procedures to them.
Multiple Outbreaks in Karnataka
The COVID outbreak at Spurthy College comes at a time when the state has been witnessing multiple outbreaks of the virus at various educational institutions.
A medical college in Karnataka's Dharwad was recently declared as a COVID cluster after the count of students and staff infected by COVID rose to 182 from 66 a day ago.
A COVID outbreak was also reported in a boarding school in Bengaluru on Friday, 26 November, after 33 students and a staff of an international boarding school tested positive for COVID-19.
The COVID clusters in Karnataka are being reported at a time when India has been stepping up screening and testing of international travellers from "South Africa and other 'at risk' countries amid concerns over a new coronavirus variant," NDTV reported.
The Union Health Ministry said that the various mutations in the new coronavirus variant identified as B.1.1.529 had "serious public health implications".
(With inputs from NDTV)
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