Karnataka: Cluster Outbreak Feared as 182 Test COVID Positive After Freshers’ Party at Medical College

Third Wave of corona in Karnataka: Earlier last month, a similar case was reported from Kodagu district bordering Kerala when 32 students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya had tested positive for the deadly virus. 

Bengaluru: After attending a freshers’ party organised inside the campus of SDM College of Medical Sciences in Dharwad, nearly 182 people, including medical students and staff have tested positive for coronavirus. If reports are to be believed, most of the infected people were fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and were showing no symptoms of Covid-19. Reports claimed that nearly 200 students had attended the party which was organized a few days ago. “The students were fully vaccinated… We will be sending a few samples for genome sequencing to check if there’s a new variant,” NDTV quoted health commissioner D Randeep as saying.

Hostels Sealed

“We have already sealed two hostels, and the students whose test results are awaited have been quarantined. We are initiating all possible measures to prevent the infection from spreading. The district health officer is here, and the management of the college has also been cooperative,” Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil said.

Furthermore, Patil claimed that the infection is within the cluster of students and it has not spread outside. “We will control it within this cluster,” he added.

Govt Urges People to Maintain Social Distance, Use Face Masks

The government and the health department are repeatedly making appeals to the people not to neglect social distancing and to use masks in public places. Earlier last month, a similar case was reported from Kodagu district bordering Kerala when 32 students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya had tested positive for the deadly virus.

COVID-19 Cases in Karnataka

Meanwhile, Karnataka on Thursday has reported 306 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 2 deaths, taking the total number of infections to 29,94,561 and the toll to 38,187. The day also saw 224 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,49,853.

Out of 306 new cases reported yesterday, 171 were from Bengaluru Urban, as the city saw 147 discharges and no deaths. The total number of active cases in the state is 6,492. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.36 per cent, case fatality rate (CFR) was at 0.65 per cent.