Private college in Telangana closed after 38 test COVID-19 positive

The district medical authorities said 20 students tested positive on Tuesday and 18 on Wednesday after conducting a Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) for Covid-19. Officials said most students who had tested positive were living in hostels and were largely asymptomatic, barring a few with mild fever.

After 38 students tested positive, a private college in Ranga Reddy district in Telangana has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot. It all started when one student returned from Christmas vacation, showed symptoms and tested positive. After that, 37 more students also tested positive for COVID-19. At present, all the students have been placed in isolation. The college has been closed for sanitisation by the Narisingi municipal officials. Meanwhile, the test results of 262 other students and staff are awaited.

The district medical authorities said 20 students tested positive on Tuesday and 18 on Wednesday after conducting a Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) for Covid-19. Officials said most students who had tested positive were living in hostels and were largely asymptomatic, barring a few with mild fever.

Ranga Reddy district medical and health officer (DMHO) Dr. K.V. Swarajya Lakshmi said, "On Tuesday morning, we got a random call from one of the students that they were suffering from fever and sore throat. Upon receiving the information, we Immediately rushed our teams and conducted RAT tests where 20 students tested positive from 132 samples collected on Tuesday and 18 of them tested positive on Wednesday," the DMOH said.

Lakshmi said she had directed the college management to give mandatory holidays for seven days to stay away from potential super spreaders such as food handlers and warden boys apart from taking up the containment activities on the premises. She said RT-PCR results would be out on Thursday.

"We have ordered a three-day sanitisation drive and mandatory seven-day holiday after which we will take a call on whether to open the campus or not," she added.

On Wednesday, December 29, Telangana recorded seven new cases of the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 disease. This has taken the total number of cases in the state to 62.

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