65 nursing college students from Kerala test Covid-19 positive in Kolar

As many as 65 students of a nursing college, all from Kerala, have tested positive for Covid-19 in Kolar.

Underlining the importance of quarantine for Kerala’s visitors, the district administration tested 265 students and staff and found positives in groups one after the other from August 24 to August 30.

After the first few tested positive, the administration decided to test everyone in all nursing colleges. As on Monday, there were 165 active cases across the district.

Kolar in-charge district surveillance officer Dr Chandan said three students of Noorunisa Institute of Nursing in Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) tested positive on August 24.

“15 more tested positive on August 28; 15 more on August 29 and finally 32 on August 30. All are from Kerala. We have sent a show cause notice to the college on Monday and are awaiting their reply. They all had negative certificates. We are trying to ascertain the veracity of the certificates by scanning the QR code on them to check whether they’re fake,” he told DH.

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The college bus transported 146 students from Kerala to the KGF college on August 18. “They were in quarantine ever since they arrived. While in quarantine, they developed symptoms and were tested on August 23. They did not travel by any other form of transport. Neither did they arrive in separate groups. So, we suspect one of them spread to others,” he added.

He said there is a possibility of more of them testing positive after the incubation period of the virus.

“The college is now a containment zone. Two hundred are in quarantine on the campus, 65 are in Covid Care Centres,” he said. While Kolar taluk has seven nursing colleges, KGF has four, Bangarpet and Malur have one each, and Mulbagal has two colleges.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Jawaid Akhtar said an order has already been issued by Disaster Management Authority and the Revenue Department that all the students coming from Kerala irrespective of negative RT-PCR certificates must undergo seven-day institutional quarantine.

“The quarantine order was based on the fact that many students in Mangaluru and Kolar are found to be positive despite a negative RT-PCR test report,” he added.