With the Covid-19 cluster identified at SDM Medical College and Hospital (SDMCH) in Karnataka’s Dharwad exceeding 300 cases, local authorities have stepped up precautionary measures to ensure the situation is contained at all levels in the twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad.
Hubballi Urban tahsildar Shashidhar Madyal issued a circular to all schools and colleges, asking students and their parents to subject themselves to RT-PCR Covid-19 testing if they had come in contact with medical students, doctors or any staff member of the medical college and hospital.
The new instruction came in the wake of a student of GV Joshi Rotary School in Hubballi contracting the infection on Wednesday. The patient was later found to be a primary contact of a student from SDMCH.
“While classes were halted as soon as the results arrived, and all classrooms sanitised as an immediate measure, the school will remain closed till December 5,” a senior district administration officer said.
Meanwhile, the tahsildar has instructed school authorities to take “immediate measures” to get all staff members fully vaccinated. “I have also sought a report from the school management on the vaccination status of all staff members, including teachers,” he added.
As per the daily bulletin issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the active caseload in the district rose to 295 on Thursday (December 2). A week earlier, on November 24, it was 30.
As many as 15 people recovered from the infection in the same time period.