Covid-19 has hit the Indian Institute of Science, prompting the administration to enforce containment measures.
Forty-four people have been infected at the institute so far, including three retired faculty members who initially sought a checkup at the institute’s health centre and succumbed to the disease days later. Seven departments have been temporarily sealed down for sanitisation.
The outbreak comes at the time of transition for the institute, with current administrator head Dr Anurag Kumar superannuating and completing his term on Friday.
Sources said a professor at the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit (SSCU) was the first to get infected on June 24. He was suspected to have contracted the disease from a relative.
Two of the professor’s family members also turned positive, while two more professors, including one who visited a hospital for surgery, tested positive in subsequent days.
After a respite, a PhD student at the New Girls Hostel (NGH) developed severe symptoms on July 22. “She was a resident of the fifth floor of the hostel and likely contracted the disease as early as July 15,” a source said.
Dr Satish Rao, nodal officer, health centre at the IISc, said the student was hospitalised and subsequently discharged.
While the BBMP collected swabs from 60 primary contacts on July 23, test results were only disclosed on the evening of July 28, Dr Satish explained. “Fourteen additional women students are positive,” he said. The students are said to be asymptomatic.
The students and faculty apart, 20 IISc auxiliary staff such as security guards, kitchen staff (one cook and three waiters), and cleaners have also tested positive. The deaths of the three pensioners occurred this month. One fatality took place this week before the patient could secure a bed after making enquiries at several hospitals, a source said.
'Poor response from IISc'
Other sources said that IISc’s response to the outbreak has been haphazard, with no screening of visitors at the main gate. However, M R Chandrashekar, head of security, insisted that “every precaution is being taken”, and that the institute is setting up a Covid Care Centre (CCC).
The sealed down departments include: the building housing the Department of Physics, two departments in the Biological Sciences building, the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit, the Electrical Communications Engineering buildings, the Centre for Infectious Disease and Biosafety Lab, and the Materials Research Centre. The New Girls Hostel has also been sealed. Six hundred PhD students are on-campus at present.