With the Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) in Burla becoming a COVID-19 cluster, the authorities of the premiere health facility in western Odisha have decided to carry out the genome sequencing of swab samples of infected students.
As many as 57 students of the medical college have so far tested positive. The swab samples of 21 students will be collected and will be sent to Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) in Bhubaneswar for genome sequencing.
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“We have decided to go for genome sequencing to ascertain whether the infectees contracted a new variant of the disease. The spurt in the outbreak of infection has become a cause of worry given the fact that majority of the infected students are fully vaccinated”, said VIMSAR Superintendent Professor Lalmohan Nayak.
However, it is refreshing to note that the infected are fast recovering. In fact, the majority of them were asymptomatic, he said.
Genomic sequencing will help decide on the new kind of variant. The infected have been put under quarantine inside the campus itself and the hostels have been sealed as a precautionary measure. Entry and exits into the hostels are prohibited. The institute has been placed under micro containment zone prohibition.
Meanwhile, as many as 26 girl students of government-run Chamakpur residential school for scheduled caste and scheduled tribe children in Thakurmunda block in Mayurbhanj district have tested Covid-19 on Saturday.
Earlier 53 girl students of a government-aided St Mary Girls’ School in Odisha’s Sundargarh and 13 students of Jawahar Navodyaya Vidyalaya in Konark had tested positive.
In the past one week, as many as 140 students including from VIMSAR have contracted the pandemic.
The worrying development comes at a time when the State government is contemplating to reopen schools for lower class students from 1 Standard to 5 Standard. The classroom teaching for students right from Class 6 to Class 12 has already begun as covid cases had subsided considerably in October.
