BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation on Monday sealed the Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar after 28 fresh cases were reported from the campus. The development comes days after the institute held the convocation for its 2018-20 batch.
This highest single-day infection count in the city in the past two months has thrown the authorities into a tizzy. The state capital had so far been reporting cases in single digits.
The entire XIMB campus is hereby sealed until further orders, read the BMC letter. It further said neither can anyone from outside enter the campus, nor can anyone from inside step out without the permission of the BMC.
The supply of essentials and medical requirements, if any, will be taken care of by the civic body. The other institutions located within the boundary of the XIMB campus have also been closed. The staff and students of the institution will have to undergo a Covid-19 test.
Those infected will have to remain in isolation (in separate rooms) in case of a single hostel. They will be kept under observation by the authorities of the institute, which will make a provision for food for them, in strict adherence to the Covid norms. In case of an emergency, the authority can call the BMC control room, the order stated.
“The swab samples of more than 200 students and staff of XIMB have been collected for RT-PCR test so far. Surveillance will be intensified and the staff (both teaching and non-teaching) and students will have to undergo the test, irrespective of symptoms,” BMC commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhury said, adding that the Covid situation in the capital has been a little alarming over the past few days.
Sources said the Xavier institute had on Saturday organized the convocation ceremony, the preparation of which saw frequent mingling of the students and the staff. While tracing the contacts of the primary contact, many Covid positive cases were found from the management institute. More samples were then collected on Sunday, which led to 28 testing positive for Covid-19, a BMC official said.
The capital city, which had brought down the cases to single digit, has started to witness infection in cluster, a trend that the city saw in the initial days of the pandemic with several hospitals, industrial units and institutions reporting huge cases.
The city on Monday reported 34 cases, including the 28 cases from Xaviers, and 11 fresh recoveries. With 31,809 recoveries and 250 deaths, the city now has 102 active cases. The total infection count has jumped to 32,182.
BMC seals mgmt institute after 28 test +ve