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Updated December 3rd, 2021 at 09:39 IST

Telangana: 27 students test positive for COVID-19 in Sangareddy; state on high alert

In yet another COVID-19 cluster from Telangana, 27 more students have tested positive for Coronavirus in Mahatma Jyothirao Phule BC Welfare School in Sangareddy

Reported by: Gloria Methri
Students test positive for COVID-19 in Telangana
Image: PTI | Image:self
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In yet another COVID-19 cluster from Telangana, 27 more students have tested positive for Coronavirus in Mahatma Jyothirao Phule BC Welfare School, located in the Indresham region of Sangareddy district. There are a total of 960 students in Mahatma Jyothirao Phule BC Welfare School hostel of which 300 have undergone COVID tests, said the District Medical and Health Officer (DM&HO). The state has sounded an alert in the region in view of the rising cases.

"On November 24 this year, a girl was suffering from fever and she was sent home but on November 26 she tested positive for COVID-19. The next day, we started testing all the students in the hostel. Since yesterday, a total of 300 students have been tested for the infection out of which 27 turned out positive. The testing of other students will continue," said the Sangareddy DM&HO.

This development comes just days after 46 students and one teacher from the same school had tested positive for COVID-19.

In light of the threat of a new variant named 'Omicron', the state health authority has sent the samples of the infected students to Hyderabad for genome sequencing. The students are kept in isolation at the hostel on the school premises and their condition is stable, an official said.

More cases are being reported in children after the reopening of educational institutions in Telangana from September 1. Last month, Mahindra University near Hyderabad was closed after 25 students and five staff members tested positive for the virus. 

Omicron scare grips India

The spike in COVID-19 cases in Telangana comes amid fresh concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19 that has made it to India, causing alarm among citizens. So far two people have tested positive for the new variant of COVID-19 in Karnataka including a 46-year-old and a 66-year-old male.

The Omicron variant was first reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO) from South Africa on November 25. The new coronavirus variant has been confirmed in 30 countries and their number is expected to rise, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said. India has also added the list of several countries from where international travellers would need to follow additional measures on arrival, including post-arrival testing for infection.

The Union Health Ministry has informed that the Omicron variant can be five times more infectious than the other known variants of the novel coronavirus.

(With inputs from agency)

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Published December 3rd, 2021 at 09:39 IST

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