As many as 182 students of a medical college in Karnataka’s Dharwad district have tested positive for Covid-19 so far, after the results for 116 more samples came back on Friday, reported The Times of India.
All of the infected students of the SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital had received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Dharwad Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil said that after 66 people were found positive till Thursday, samples of 690 persons, including students, staff and primary contacts of the patients, were sent for testing.
District Health Officer Dr Yashwanth A Madinkar told The Indian Express that results of 939 samples had been received since Wednesday.
“Nearly 3,000 samples will be sent for testing in total from the campus,” he said. “We have also suggested random testing of patients admitted to the hospital within the campus.”
Madinkar added that some samples would also be sent for genomic sequencing to ascertain the variant that has caused the infections.
Patil said that a preliminary inquiry suggested that a students’ programme held within the campus on November 17 might have resulted in the spread of the infection. He said that most of the patients were first-year students.
The deputy commissioner said that all the cases were “breakthrough infections”. This means that the patients were infected after receiving both shots of the coronavirus vaccine, according to United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
He said that most patients were asymptomatic and some had mild symptoms.
“All those who have tested positive will be quarantined for two weeks,” Patil said.
He has sought details on the precautionary measures implemented in the college. Patil also urged residents to undergo Covid-19 tests if they have any symptoms and to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
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