COVID-19 third wave in Karnataka? 68 students test positive in two districts

Apart from the arrival of the Omicron variant in Karnataka, there are a huge number of COVID-19 cases being reported from educational institutes in the state. This has sparked fear among parents and students regarding the third wave of the pandemic hit the state.

As many as 68 students have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 24 hours in Shivamogga and Chikkamagalur districts of Karnataka. In the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya residential hostel in Seegodu village in Chikkamagalur district as many as 40 students and teachers tested positive.

Initially, three students and four staff tested positive. The health department immediately swung into action and collected the swab samples of 418 students and all staff members and sent it for testing. All students are asymptomatic and the residential school has been sealed down.

In another incident, 29 nursing students tested positive for COVID-19 at a private nursing college in Shivamogga. Deputy Commissioner K. Shivakumar, who confirmed this, also stated that all are asymptomatic, as per IANS reports.

The hostel has been sealed down. The infection came to light when the district administration was conducting random tests. Not only this, IANS reported that measures have been taken to test people in the neighbourhood.

Not only has there been a large number of COVID-19 cases among students in Karnataka, it was also the first state in the country to report cases of the Omicron variant. Two cases of the new COVID-19 variant were reported in Karnataka earlier this week.

Till now, a total of five cases of the Omicron variant have been reported across India. Two cases have been reported in Karnataka, and one case has been reported in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Delhi each in the span of just a few days.

(With IANS inputs)