281 students now coronavirus positive at Karnataka Medical College

Bengaluru : A medical college in Karnataka's Dharwad has become a COVID hotspot after the number of infected student rose to 281. The SDM College of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care centre, is considered the medical hub of north Karnataka.

The administration has closed fresh admission of patients to the hospital. Entry and exit points of the hospital have been sealed. Also, the admitted patients will be tested and only those who tests negative will be discharged from the hospital.

In a major shock, most of the infected students in the college have received their two doses of vaccine. It is believed that the recently held freshers' party could have triggered mass coronavirus infection. The party was held for two to three continuous days.

Chairman of Manipal Hospital and member of Covid task force team in Karnataka Dr Sudarshan Ballal said the Covid cluster is 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.

However, he mentioned that the students are asymptomatic and the condition is not severe.

"113 positive samples have been sent to Strand Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore. Genome Sequencing is expected to be completed by December 1," state health commissioner D Randeep said.

(Image)