Lagatar24 Desk
Kharagpur, Jan 4: An official of the IIT Kharagpur stated on Tuesday that sixty people, including 40 students and researchers on the campus have tested positive for Covid-19.
The majority of people infected are asymptomatic or moderately symptomatic, and are being treated at home or in isolation wards set up in the famed engineering institution’s hostels, according to Tamal Nath, IIT Kharagpur’s Registrar.
Aside from the student-researchers, 20 other non-teaching staff and faculty members have been afflicted.
According to Nath, the situation is under control, and the hospital on campus is keeping an eye on individuals who have been afflicted.
“We have been urging members of IIT Kharagpur family to get themselves tested whenever they have fever like symptoms and they are complying with our advice. This is how the number of 60 infected was known. We are not outside the world. With sudden spike in Covid cases all around, we too have to face up to the (emergent) situation,” he added.
After the institute’s convocation on December 18, IIT-Kharagpur decided to reintroduce students to the campus in phases after a one-and-a-half-year absence.
“But with the sudden surge in Covid in the past two days, we are again postponing resumption of classes in on campus mode and sticking to online classes only,” he added.
Nath responded to a query about whether on-campus classes will now be postponed permanently, “Students were anxious to return to campus, and we all wanted campus activities to start as soon as possible. But (for now, we don’t know) when it might happen.”
Another institute official indicated that roughly 2000 students arrived on campus after December 27, but that process has been put on hold because Covid resurfaced with a fury.
