The Omicron variant has intensified the concern of authorities across the country just two weeks after it was detected for the first time in South Africa. Even as the Omicron threat looms large, the number of COVID-19 cases among students is steadily increasing.
In recent news, as many as 59 students and 10 staff members of Jawahar Navodaya School in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru have tested positive for COVID-19, confirmed a local health official. All 69 people from the school have been shifted to a different block, and are currently asymptomatic.
Dr Umesh, District Health Official, Chikkamagaluru, said, “We collected 457 samples in this residential school, out of which 69 tested positive. These are 59 students and 10 staff members.” The doctor further added that soon after they were tested positive, they were placed under isolation in a separate block.
“We have deployed our health and paramedical staff. All the students who have been infected are asymptomatic. We are treating them as per home isolation protocol,” Dr Umesh added. The health official further added that a follow-up sample will be taken after one week.
This is not the first time that a COVID-19 outbreak has been reported from an educational institute in Karnataka. Last week, 29 students from a private nursing school in Karnataka’s Shivamogga tested positive for the virus.
To restrict the spread of COVID-19 in the state amid rising Omicron fears, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai announced that any area with three or more COVID-19 cases will be classified as a cluster.
Karnataka has reported 397 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths in the state on Saturday, December 4. The COVID-19 tally in the state has decreased significantly over the past few months after the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic subsided across the country.
Two cases of the Omicron variant were reported in Karnataka last week, which prompted the state authorities to tighten their travel guidelines further, and strictly monitor international passengers from at-risk countries.
