COVID-19 in IIT Madras: 183 Students Test Positive for Coronavirus in Just 15 Days

Chennai, December 15: The Indian Institution of Technology in Madras, popularly known as IIT Madras, has turned into a COVID-19 cluster after 183 students tested positive for the infection in just 15 days. According to statement by the premier educational institution, these students have contracted the infected from December 1 till today, i.e. December 15. In the wake of the rising cases, IIT Madras has shut its departments, labs and other centres. The teachers and the students have been asked to work from home and continue with the classes online. IIT Madras Put Under Lockdown Due to COVID-19 Spike Within Campus.

A spokesperson for the institute said all departments and labs have been shut and as of now only about 700 students, mostly research scholars were accommodated in nine hostels.

On Monday, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan had informed that as many as 104 students and others have contracted the disease and all were doing well in a hospital. Radhakrishnan added that from December 1 to 12, the COVID-19 samples collected from the institute turning positive saw a sudden spike. He said there was no need for concern as measures including aggressive contact testing are in place as per the protocol.

In Tamil Nadu, the COVID-19 tally crossed eight lakh mark with 1,141 new cases on Monday. Meanwhile, the death toll mounted to 11,909 with 14 more fatalities on December 14. Of the 1,141 new infections, 343 were from here and the remainder was scattered in other regions of the state and the tally stood at 8,00,029, a health department bulletin said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 15, 2020 01:24 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).