At the isolation ward of Naidu Hospital in Pune. (PTI Photo)

All students and research scholars who have gone abroad in the last one month need to be isolated or self quarantined, Pune Divisional Commissioner D G Mhaisekar said Saturday at an urgent meeting conducted with heads of universities and higher educational institutions across the city. He reiterated the state government’s decision to close all schools and colleges owing to the coronavirus outbreak.

Educationists were instructed that students and researchers who have travelled abroad but are asymptomatic should be told to isolate themselves at their residence for 15 days.

For those currently living in university hostels, institutes were instructed to identify a building inside the campus and create a quarantine facility. This responsibility, they were told, must be given to an officer under the guidance of the health officer of the municipal corporation.

Meanwhile, institutes were told to tell students on leave not to unnecessarily roam the city, and to stay safe within their homes or hostels. Students from other cities were given the option to return to their native places. The Divisional Commissioner said students must be told that action could be taken for those not following the rules.

Those in hotels were instructed to avoid sharing toilets, soaps, mobile phones and handkerchiefs.

While all regular lectures have been indefinitely suspended, universities, institutes and colleges were told they could hold, as scheduled, written or practical examinations. During the exams, however, students will be made to sit at a distance from each other.

The examination of students who travelled abroad will be arranged in a separate room.

If any student or researcher, display any signs and symptoms of COVID-19, they should be immediately shifted to Naidu Hospital.