Residential campuses on edge amid surge in Covid-19 cases

Covid-19 cases are seeing a surge at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai

Covid-19 cases are seeing a surge at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.

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Two students of the institute were found infected with the virus and have been taken to the Covid-19 facilities of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said Sreerup Raychaudhuri, the institute’s dean (administration).

“Their close contacts have been isolated in our guesthouse. We have also repurposed some faculty and postdoctoral housing as isolation centres. We will take stock of the situation again on Sunday and decide the future course of action,” said Raychaudhuri.

While theoretical classes are being held online, laboratory work is done on a rotational basis.

With residential campuses across the country reporting high number of Covid-19 cases, institutes in Mumbai are on the edge. The Indian Institute of Technology –Bombay (IIT-B) last week clamped down activity on campus, following a surge in cases when nine cases were detected in 24 hours.

However, cases among students have come down this week, said IIT-B deputy director S Sudarshan.

“We have a whole hostel wing (of 160 rooms) dedicated for isolation of positive patients, but [there are] less than 20 active cases and a few suspected cases,” he said.

In an official email to students last week, the IIT-B administration informed students that the night canteen was shut and mess facility moved out to a different location. For students to move out of a floor after a single positive case is found, they will have to take an RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) test. There are around 3,000 students and 2,000 staff members on campus at the moment.