111 test positive in Manipal Institute of Technology campus

Bengaluru: In a major Covid cluster outbreak, 111 students tested positive in the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) campus in Udupi district. With this, the total number of cases connected to the cluster has gone up to 483. Fever clinics and testing facilities have been set up inside the MIT campus by Kasturba Medical College (KMC), a constituent college of Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE). "We are trying to minimise the further spread of the infection and isolate the students who tested positive. We will wait for all the test results and will be scrutinising the students for any possible exposure to the infection before any decision is made on allowing students to leave the campus," Prashant Bhat, the nodal official said.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said on Thursday that from April 1, all passengers travelling to Bengaluru from any state will need to undergo RT-PCR tests and show a negative report before they can enter the city. Earlier, the state government had made it compulsory for passengers from Punjab, Chandigarh, Maharashtra and Kerala to carry a negative RT-PCR test report before they could enter Karnataka.

He said this decision is being taken as 60% of Bengaluru’s cases have an interstate travel history.

The government also said that those who opt for home isolation will be hand stamped, in a bid to curb infections.