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First Covid 19 case in IT Bombay campus registered with wife of a staffer testing positive
The institute says there is no need to panic as adequate care is being taken to prevent others on the campus from contracting the disease.
The first case of Covid-19 at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, was reported on Thursday with the wife of a staffer testing positive for the virus.
According to the authorities, the woman is a health worker engaged in a government hospital in south Mumbai and likely contracted the virus from a patient she came in contact with. Her husband, who is an employee of the institute and her two children, have been quarantined in a separate facility on the campus.
“The lady is a health worker in a hospital and her husband works at our institute. They lived on the campus. So, once she tested positive, she was moved to a hospital and her family was quarantined in a special area on the campus. She is doing fine and is undergoing treatment,” said institute director Subhasis Chadhuri. Officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) visited the campus on Friday and standard operating procedures were being followed.
The institute has sanitised some of the common areas that the woman might have accessed. “On our part, we have sanitised some of the common areas such as the lift and the lobby of the building the patient was residing in. Neighbours, too, have been asked to follow BMC directives for quarantine. We will cooperate with the state authorities on the matter,” said Chaudhuri.
Chaudhuri has also urged residents not to panic. “Although there is nothing to panic as yet, we hope there are no more positive cases in the campus,” he said.
All academic and research activities remain suspended on campus since mid-March and early summer vacation was announced with the students being told to vacate the campus. The summer vacation is ending on May 31.
Four buildings at the IIT Bombay campus were earlier converted into quarantine facilities for asymptomatic flyers coming into the city from different international destinations following the collector’s orders.
