HUBBALLI: As many as 138 more students and faculty members of SDM College of Medical Sciences, at Sattur, Dharwad in Karnataka tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday till night, taking the total number of affected medical students to 204.
Karnataka: 116 more students at Dharwad medical college test Covid positive, taking tally to 182
The district administration on Friday closed schools and colleges and sanitized areas in a 500-metre radius of SDM College of Medical Sciences in Sattur, Dharwad, after 138 medical students and faculty members tested positive for Covid-19, taking the total number of infections from the campus to 202.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, 66 students tested positive for Covid-19 barely a week after about 300 students attended a cultural event in the college attended by freshers as well as seniors. Following the cluster outbreak, the health department sent samples of 1,000 students, doctors and college employees on Thursday and 138 of them turned positive on Friday.
Samples of 1,800 more students and faculty members have already been collected. The district administration has roped in 11 teams to expedite collection of samples, which will be sent to KIMS, DIMHANS and SDM labs.
Deputy commissioner Nitesh Patil told TOI that they have directed the college management to close the outpatient department till Sunday and restrict entry of visitors, patients’ attendants and other outsiders. "We’ve kept eight ambulances ready," he added.
