One more Covid-19 cluster reported in Karnataka after 9 students of Mangaluru college test positive

The college has now been declared a containment zone, and the samples of all the Covid-19 positive students have been sent for genome sequencing to detect if they are infected with the Omicron variant.

A fresh Covid-19 cluster was reported in Karnataka on Monday after nine students tested positive for the infection, news agency ANI reported. The incident occurred in a college in Mangaluru, and the positive results arrived after a total of 173 samples were tested for the virus.

India on Monday reported two fresh Omicron cases from Mumbai, which took the country's cumulative tally to 23. (Sanjeev Verma / HT Photo)

The college has now been declared a containment zone. “We have sent samples for genomic sequencing to detect the variant,” deputy commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district Rajendra KV was quoted as saying.

This development comes only hours after the cluster Covid-19 cases reported in Chikkamagaluru district on Saturday witnessed a rise in the number of affected people, with 21 more students and one staffer testing positive for the virus.

Following testing of 457 samples of both students and staff members in the Jawahar Navodaya School in Seegodu in Chikkamagaluru district, as many as 69 individuals, including 59 students and 10 staffers, were found to be infected with coronavirus. On Monday, the number of cases rose to 101, with the total number of students carrying coronavirus climbing to 90 and the staff members to 11.

There has been a consistent uptick of Covid-19 clusters in the southern state, which led the state government to issue guidelines to combat the situation. According to the new norms, any area reporting three Covid-19 cases will be declared a cluster, as opposed to the earlier 10. Furthermore, both doses of Covid-19 vaccine shots have been made mandatory for people to visit apartment complexes, and if one has been marked a cluster, no one will be permitted to enter the building.

The new rules hold even more significance as the country along with the world currently grapples with the new Covid-19 variant Omicron, which was first discovered in South Africa last month. India has confirmed 23 cases of the strain so far, with the latest coming from Mumbai wherein two men aged 37 and 36, were found to be infected. With this Maharashtra's overall tally of Omicron has also risen to 10.

Karnataka has so far confirmed two cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant.