Fifty-three students from Saikrupa Residential College at Kunjakanta, Dhenkanal have tested positive for Covid-19, officials confirmed. The spread of the virus has forced the municipal administration to seal the educational institute until further notice.
A few days ago, four students at a hostel in the Kunjakanta area fell prey to the virus, following which other students were tested, an official said. The test reports of 33 students came out positive, and they were moved to isolation. Later, 16 more students tested positive, taking the total to 53, said the official.
An FIR has been lodged against the college chairperson and the principal for failing to restrain many students, who went back homes after the tests, District Collector Saroj Kumar Sethi said.
The Kunjakanta ward has been declared as a micro-containment zone for ten days, Sethi added.
Meanwhile, authorities are on high alert as 380 people have returned to Odisha from countries where the new Covid-19 strain, Omicron, has been detected. However, all of them have tested negative, an official said on Thursday.
People returning from the ‘at-risk’ countries will have to be under home quarantine for seven days, despite testing negative for COVID-19. They will be examined again on the eighth day, Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said.
Notably, the state has reported 270 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, with over fifty per cent coming from Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The officials would be keeping a close eye on these numbers, especially as southern Odisha braces for the landfall of Cyclone Jawad.