Ten students of National Institute of Technology- Tiruchi have reported COVID-19 positive, and have been kept in isolation on the campus.
Their samples will be sent to Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics laboratories for genome sequencing to confirm the variant. Speaking to The Hindu, a senior official of the Health Department said that a batch of around 500 students of third year had returned to the institute over the weekend when RT-PCR tests were taken.
The results, which returned on Monday, indicated that 10 among them were COVID-19 positive. A team from the Directorate of Public Health rushed to the college on Monday evening to take stock of the situation. These students, all hailing from other States, are being monitored at a quarantine facility on the premises and will be shifted to Tiruchi Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, if the need arises.
G. Kannabiran, Director (in charge) of NIT-T said that the students were asymptomatic. “Students were returning to college in a phased manner. However, we will now suspend it and hold classes in a hybrid manner for the time being,” he said.
The health officials will test students and staff of NIT on Tuesday.