The state health department of Karnataka confirmed two other Covid-19 clusters emerging in the state amidst the scare regarding the new coronavirus variant of Omicron. According to reports, only two cases of the new variant have been found. In the first incident which was reported on Sunday, 69 people, including 59 students of the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya (JNV) in Chikkamagaluru, tested positive.

“We had conducted tests on 457 people in the JNV here, of which 59 students and 10 staff members tested positive for coronavirus. They are asymptomatic but we have isolated them,” district health officer Dr SN Umesh told PTI. The officer further added that the test reports of all the people who were tested had arrived and only 69 were found to be infected. Umesh also added that all the other staff members of JNV have been vaccinated.

According to sources in the district administration, the school has been temporarily sealed, and doctors and paramedical staff have been deployed there. The school is being sanitised, they added.

In another instance, 42 persons, including students of the Nanjappa Institute of Nursing Sciences, tested positive. No hospitalisation was required even in this case, said the officials. A total of more than 900 persons were subjected to tests. 

Educational institutions, especially residential ones, are witnessing a rise in Covid-19 cases. However, the intensity of the infection and fatalities are almost nil in these places and most of the students and staff members are asymptomatic.

CM Basavaraj Bommai had on Saturday, said that Covid-19 cases are appearing two clusters – one in schools and colleges, and the other one in residential apartments. He further added that any area with three or more cases of coronavirus infections in the state would be declared a cluster and proper precautionary measures will be undertaken by the district administration officials.

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