COVID-19: 60 students at IIT Roorkee test positive, 5 hostels sealed

Amid the recent surge in COVID-19 cases reported across India, 60 students have tested positive for Coronavirus in the Indian Institue of Technology in Roorkee in the last few days. The students who tested positive, had allegedly returned from their native places and joined the college last month. 

As per the information provided by the IIT-Roorkee Media Cell In-Charge Sonika Srivastava, after the students tested positive- five hostels- Korle, Kasturba, Sarojini, Govind Bhavan and Vigyan Kunj have been sealed and declared as containment zones by the health department. Restriction on movement on the students living in the aforementioned hostels has been imposed by the department.

It is pertinent to mention here that out of the 3000 students enrolled in the college, 1200 are present in the five hostels that have been sealed. 

Last month, a similar situation was witnessed in  Andhra University Engineering College, where 65 students had tested positive for the virus. It was reported that an asymptomatic student was living in the hostel of the college, and only after he tested positive that around 1500 students in total were made to undergo the RT-PCR test, of which 65 students tested positive.

COVID tally in India

In the last 24 hours, India recorded 1.15 lakh fresh COVID-19 cases, which is the highest reported cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. The number of fatalities reported stood at 630, and swole up the death toll in the country to 1,66,177.11 States-Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan are alone contributing to 54 percent of the total cases and 65 percent of the total deaths. 

Taking into consideration the situation, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Wednesday claimed that the major reason behind the rise in COVID-19 cases and death is the careless attitude of the people, and urged the people to take up mass awareness campaigns to acquaint the masses with the importance of following COVID-appropriate behaviour. 

(Credits- SHUTTERSTOCK/UNSPLASH)