Students returning from Kota arrive at a Lucknow shelter home on Monday. (Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
In A major relief to the state government and Ghazipur district administration, an 18-year-old woman who was among the students brought back from Kota in Rajasthan over the weekend tested negative for coronavirus on Monday.
The woman was found to have a high viral load during a rapid test following her arrival at her home in Ghazipur on Sunday. She was then kept in institutional quarantine along with 27 others on the bus that brought them back, including other students, two policemen, and the driver. All of them will now have to complete the mandatory 14-day home quarantine as instructed by the government.
“The students were brought from Kota, and in the rapid test conducted a girl was found to have high viral load,” said district Chief Medical Officer Dr GC Maurya. “Following that, her throat and nasal swabs were sent for final testing to BHU, Varanasi. To our relief, the report has been confirmed negative Monday evening. There were 28 people – two policemen, the driver, 18 boys and seven girls, including this girl, in the bus. They all were quarantined.”
Superintendent of Police (SP) Om Prakash Singh said that 257 students had been brought back to the district. All of them have tested negative.
“All of these students were tested with the rapid test kits,” he said. “These students are being sent to their homes with an instruction to remain in home quarantine. Earlier the 28, including the girl and students who were on that particular bus, were kept in institutional quarantine. Now as the report is negative, they too will be sent into home quarantine.”
Earlier in the day, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi told the media that the state had brought back 10,500 students from Kota in more than 250 buses since April 17. They were first taken to Agra and Jhansi, where they were screened. Then, they were sent to their home districts.
“All these students were screened at Agra and Jhansi and the ADM led teams again examined the students after they reached their respective native districts,” said Awasthi. “Meanwhile, clear instructions have been issued by the Chief Minister to make sure that all these children are kept under home quarantine for at least 14 days. All the students have been asked to install the Arogya Setu app in their phones before going to their houses.”
The state administration has noted down the phone numbers of every student in order to monitor if they are following home-quarantine norms. Awasthi said the students have been told to call the state helpline numbers if they need any help.