Coronavirus strikes at IIT Patna, 18 students test positive

Patna: The second wave of Covid-19 is spreading at a rapid pace in Bihar with the state reporting 935 new cases across 38 districts in the last 24 hours.

Of these, the state capital alone reported 432 cases, including 18 students testing postive at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Patna, located on the outskirts of the city in the Bihta sub-town.

Confirming the development, the registrar of IIT Patna said that two students returned to the campus after the Holi holidays on Sunday and tested positive for the virus.

"As per the Covid protocols, we conducted RT-PCR test on those two students and their reports returned positive. Following that, we conducted 41 more tests on students staying in the hostel where the duo stayed. Of these, 16 reports returned positive on Tuesday," the registrar said.

"We have converted the hostel into a quarantine centre. Besides, we have also turned the academic building into a quarantine facility for the suspected students. Educational activities on the campus have been suspended for a week," he added.

Earlier, Amrit Pratyay, the principal health secretary of Bihar, had said that the health department had conducted 72,418 tests till Monday evening, of which 935 were found to be positive across the state.

"The second wave of Corona is spreading at a more rapid pace as compared to last year. It is more dangerous than Phase 1. We have added 10 ICU beds in AIIMS Patna, taking the total number of ICU beds to 30. Moreover, we have also added 100 more beds at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH)," Pratyay said.