Covid: 59 students, 10 staff members test positive at school in south India

Amid growing concerns over the Omicron variant, around 69 people including 59 students and 10 staff members have tested Covid-19 positive at Jawahar Navodaya School in Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, said a health official.

“We collected 457 samples in this residential school, out of which 69 tested positive. These are 59 students and 10 staff members,” said Dr Umesh, District Health Official, Chikkamagaluru.

The Covid-19 positives are asymptomatic and have been shifted to separate blocks as per home isolation norms.

Soon after we got the information, we separated the students and kept them in isolation in a separate block. We have deployed our health and paramedical staff. All the students who have been infected are asymptomatic. We are treating them as per home isolation protocol,” Dr Umesh said.

“After one week we will take follow-up sample. We have taken all the precautionary measures as per the guidelines of govt of Karnataka,” he added.

On Sunday, 29 students were also tested Covid-19 positive at a private nursing school in Karnataka’s Shivamogga.

In a bid to curb the transmission of the infection, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced that any area with three or more Covid-19 cases will be classified as a cluster.

Meanwhile, Karnataka on Saturday reported 397 new Covid-19 cases, 277 recoveries and four deaths. There are 7,012 active cases, as per the health department.

• India