COVID case count in IIT-Madras rises to 111; no hospitalisation yet

Thirty one more students at the IIT-Madras tested positive for COVID-19, taking the count in the cluster to 111.

Tamil Nadu health secretary J Radhakrishnan asked the students not to panic. He also met faculty members on the campus for the second time in three days on Monday.  The official assured students that IIT-Madras has taken all safety precautions. Besides, there is a reserve hospital in 3 km radius from the campus if needed.

None of the students who tested positive has been admitted to the hospital yet. However, Radhakrishnan said nobody should be over confident and should continue to take precautions and monitor their health.

“In our inspection, we found that people from 13 districts and one from abroad had stayed at a particular hostel. Through that one person, the virus has spread to other departments and hostels. Due to the efforts of the public health department and IIT management, we stopped the spread from becoming an outbreak,” Radhakrishnan said.

The IIT-M had stepped up adherence to pandemic-related protocol laid down by the government on its campus.

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On Monday (April 25), Tamil Nadu registered 55 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the caseload to 34,53,607. The toll of fatalities continues to remain at 38,025, as no deaths were reported today, according to a bulletin. A person who returned from Assam by road was among the 55 who tested positive during the day. Among those who tested positive by RT-PCR were 33 men and 22 women, the bulletin said.

Chennai accounted for the maximum of 37 new infections followed by Chengalpattu with five, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga three each, Virudhunagar two, while Cuddalore, Kancheepuram, Pudukottai, Salem, and Vellore recorded one each.

India recorded 2,483 new Covid-19 infections in the last 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday — slightly lower than the previous day’s 2,541 cases. The active cases also dipped from 16,522 to 15,636, while the positivity rate declined to 0.55 per cent.