Cluster Scare: Kerala students on radar

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: With the scare caused by the Omicron variant of Covid -19 looming large and positive cases still high in neighbouring Kerala, the Karnataka government has decided to test every student from Kerala who has arrived in the state in the last 15 days.

As a precautionary measure, it has also been decided to postpone all cultural, social and academic events in educational institutions which have started functioning, to avoid any risk to students.

The move comes after News Trail reported that the government is set to investigate how nursing college students from Kerala who tested positive for Covid-19, were able to secure RT-PCR negative reports.

The Department of Health and Family Welfare has issued a circular directing educational institutions to postpone social, cultural and academic events. T.K. Anil Kumar, principal secretary, health department, told News Trail, “All such events in educational institutions will be postponed for the next two months. Conferences, seminars and academic events in educational institutions, wherever possible will be postponed. Alternatively, these events can be conducted in a hybrid model with minimal physical attendance and with more persons attending through virtual mode,” he said.

With clusters emerging in the state and the Omicron scare gripping people, the department said that students arriving from Kerala and Maharashtra must produce a mandatory RT-PCR negative report, which is not older than 72 hours, at entry points to the state irrespective of their vaccination status.

Students who have arrived from Kerala to study in medical and paramedical colleges and other such institutions in Karnataka in the past 15 days, will be subjected to mandatory RT-PCR tests. Another RT-PCR test will be done on the 7th day after their arrival to rule out any risk. The Deputy Commissioners of districts bordering Kerala have been instructed to install check points and make sure they comprehensively check all arrivals from Kerala.

Meanwhile, Karnataka on Sunday reported 315 fresh COVID-19 cases and two deaths, taking the caseload to 29,95,600 and the toll to 38,198. Discharges numbered 236, taking the total number of recoveries to 29,50,542, a health department bulletin said.