Hyderabad: College declared Covid-hotspot

Hyderabad: Sri Chaitanya College in Narsingi town of Ranga Reddy district has been declared as Covid hotspot zone following 30 students testing positive for the virus.

The Health officials said that students have been found positive with mild fever and cough symptoms. Further, RT-PCR tests on all other students of the college were conducted and results of about 262 students, including staff are awaited. Tests were also conducted on teaching and non-teaching staff. Some of the students, who tested positive for Covid in the RT-PCR tests, have travel history.

The health authorities are collecting samples which would be sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether the infection is of Omicron variant.

According to sources, there are over 300 students in this residential college. The health staff conducted rapid tests on 90 students. Reports say 16 students tested positive on Tuesday while another 14 tested positive on Wednesday. The students, who had been infected but found to be asymptomatic, were sent to their hometowns in private vehicles. Other students who had symptoms are being provided medical care and are under isolation in the hostels on the campus.

Meanwhile, the college has been closed and municipal authorities are taking up sanitisation of the entire premises.