Mumbai: IIT-Bombay reports 30 Covid cases as infections surge in Maharashtra
Premium- The institute has not closed any of its facilities or stopped activities on the premises, and the management is undertaking all the precautionary measures
MUMBAI : The Indian Institute of Technology- Bombay (IIT-B) has reported thirty new cases of Covid-19 over the last few days
An IIT-Bombay spokesperson confirmed the news on Friday.
"There are 30 people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the institute over the last few days. All of these are mild cases and have been isolated immediately," she said.
The institute has not closed any of its facilities or stopped activities on the premises, and the management is undertaking all the precautionary measures, she added.
IIT Bombay has a sprawling campus in Mumbai's Powai area.
The state of Maharashtra on Thursday reported 1,045 new Covid-19 cases, of which state capital Mumbai reported 704 infections. On Wednesday, Maharashtra recorded 1,081 fresh Covid-19 cases.
The ‘tremendous’ surge in Covid-19 cases that Maharashtra is witnessing is primarily being driven by its capital city Mumbai, experts have warned. A top official has also expressed that the approaching monsoon could herald a spate of symptomatic cases.
BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal asked officials to ramp up testing on war-footing and also keep staff at `jumbo' Covid hospitals on alert amid the steady climb in the number of infections.
"The new cases (reported) daily have gone up tremendously in Mumbai, and with monsoon round the corner, we will now see a rapid rise in symptomatic cases," Chahal told BMC officials.
Following the sudden surge in cases Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has called a meeting of the Covid-19 task force on Thursday.
If the Covid-19 cases in Maharashtra continue to spike, the state government will be forced to make face masks mandatory again, news agency PTI had quoted minister Ajit Pawar as saying.
Health experts are stressing that pandemic norms like wearing of masks and social distancing, which were rolled back to "voluntary mode" on 2 April this year amid a fall in cases, will have to be observed diligently again. Experts have also blamed the increase in mobility of the general population after the relaxation or removal of Covid-19 curbs as resulting in the rise in cases.