PATNA: The IIT-
Patna campus at Bihta has been declared as containment zone and locked down for seven days as 15 of its students tested
Covid positive. Authorities said mass testing of students and faculty will start from Wednesday.
On Sunday, three students showing mild Covid symptoms tested positive. After contact tracing of the infected students, 41 more people were subsequently tested and 12 of them were found infected.
IIT-Patna registrar Vishwa Ranjan said the infected students have been isolated in a separate hostel building and a medical team was attending to them. “They are under strict surveillance and proper care of our doctors,” he said.
“All students and on-campus residents have been asked to remain in their rooms and follow Covid appropriate behaviour. An inquiry to trace the source of infection is underway,” said Vishwa.
The institute has been functioning with 10% students in the hostels and that, too, only final year MTech students and research scholars who need to do experimental work and returned to the campus cautiously post-lockdown.
The district administration has also increased vigilance in and around the college campus. “The campus has been declared a containment zone. RT-PCR test of all 500 students and 450 teachers and other faculty members will be conducted by four medical teams. Necessary action will be taken based on their test results,” said Vishal Anand, block development officer, Bihta.