COVID-19 Cases in IIT-Madras Climbs to 191

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras's COVID-19 tally climbed to 191 with eight more students has been detected with the virus on Wednesday. The latest cases emerged after 141 people were tested on Tuesday amid a spurt in the cases at the premier institute.

According to reports, six students have tested positive for the virus at Anna University too.

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said that the students who are infected with the virus are reported to be in stable condition.

The institute shut down its departments, centres, labs and the library earlier this week citing the spurt in cases in hostels, as reported by NDTV after accessing an email of a student.

The Tamil Nadu government has intensified Covid testing on campuses and has ordered testing at all colleges and universities after the IIT-Madras cases. Close to 1,000 IIT students and mess workers have been tested so far.

Authorities blame it on the hostel mess. The IIT administration is now sending packed food to students at hostels. Other colleges and universities that have only one mess or dining hall too have been asked to give only take-aways to students in hostels.

Many colleges in Tamil Nadu have reopened for final year students following relaxation by the state government.

IIT-Madras has instructed faculty and students to work from home.

Tamil Nadu on Tuesday logged 1,132 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 8,01,161 and the death count rose to 11,919 with 10 more fatalities.