Visakhapatnam: GITAM readies comprehensive Covid protocols for campus reopening

Visakhapatnam: GITAM Deemed to be University has prepared a comprehensive Covid-19 policy before reopening the campus for the students, said Vice-Chancellor K. Sivaramakrishna here on Thursday.

While reviewing re-opening strategies, the institution's VC mentioned the psychiatry and applied psychology departments would conduct group sessions for the students. He announced that the institution has constituted a Student Health Services Committee (SHSC) and Employee Health Services Committee (EHSC).

Student representatives, hostel wardens and faculty nominees will be trained in conducting contact tracing interviews, he added. He explained that the university is establishing on-campus quarantine space for hostel students for better monitoring system.

He said that Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has sanctioned a BSL2 (Biosafety Level - 2) Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT PCR) laboratory to conduct virology testing for Covid-19 cases in GITAM Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (GIMSR) Hospital.

The V-C further said the institution has allocated Rs.1 crore to implement the Covid-19 policy on the campuses.