77 More People Test Positive at Karnataka Medical College, Tally Reaches 281

Coronavirus variants. Image used for representational purposes.

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With 77 more people testing positive for coronavirus on Saturday, 27 November, the SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Karnataka's Dharwad has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot. As many as 281 COVID cases have been reported from the campus so far.

The college, which is witnessing a major COVID outbreak, had reported a total of 116 cases on Friday. On Thursday, 66 students and staff members from the Dharwad college had been confirmed positive for the coronavirus infection.

A tertiary care centre, the college is considered a medical hub of north Karnataka. According to a report in NDTV, new admissions to the college have been suspended. No one is allowed to enter or exit the college. Only those patients who test negative for the virus are discharged.

The district administration has declared holidays for all educational institutes situated around 500 metres of the college. The test results of 2,500 students and staff members of the college are awaited, news agency IANS reported.

Officials have reportedly said that all infected people at the college were fully vaccinated against COVID. They added that their symptoms were not serious. A recent fresher's party and a marriage function held at the college's auditorium had led to the virus outbreak, officials said.

'Cause of Concern': Karnataka COVID Task Force

Dr Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of Manipal Hospital and member of Karnataka's COVID task force team said the COVID cluster at the college was a cause of concern.

"There was a large cluster that has turned to be positive and all of them were at an event. This means the variant of this virus is infectious. Second concern, all the students were fully vaccinated which means there is an immune escape phenomena," he said, as per NDTV.

But he added that the disease was not severe. He further said genome sequencing will help in deciding the new kind of variant.

State Health Commissioner told NDTV that samples of 116 people who tested positive after attending the college's event have been sent to a Bengaluru lab for genome sequencing. The results are expected to arrive by 1 December, he said.

In View of COVID Surge, CM Basavaraj Bommai Calls Meeting

In view of the surge in COVID cases in Karnataka and Kerala, Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai has called for a meeting of experts from the state's health and disaster departments on Saturday, 27 November.

"I have called a meeting of experts of health & disaster departments today in view of a surge in COVID cases in Kerala & clusters in a few colleges in Dharwad & Bengaluru," CM Bommai said, as per ANI.

(With inputs from IANS, NDTV and ANI)