MANGALURU: The district health and family welfare department has decided to send the swabs of more than 90 nursing students in the first phase to Nimhans, Bengaluru, for genomic study.
Dr Ashok H, nodal officer for Covid-19 in Dakshina Kannada, told TOI that this measure is being taken to ascertain the virus strain. “A similar exercise was undertaken in the past for returnees from the United Kingdom (UK) to Dakshina Kannada, to check the presence of the UK strain of the novel coronavirus. In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases in various nursing colleges, the Dakshina Kannada district administration had sought the guidance of the state government,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, the commissionerate of health and family welfare services had issued a circular on compulsory RT-PCR testing, and other Covid-19 precautions to be taken by students and others coming from Kerala to Mangaluru, Udupi, Kodagu, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar districts for education.