60 students tested positive for Covid-19 in Bangalore: school closes until October 20

A residential school in Bengaluru has become a cluster for COVID-19 after 60 of its nearly 500 students tested positive. Two were found to be symptomatic and the school was closed until October 20.

Bengaluru (urban) district collector J Manjunath told the ANI news agency that the symptomatic students had been admitted to the hospital and the rest quarantined in a suitable medical facility.

Concerned parents and guardians have called to ask if they can take their children home, but Manjunath stressed that “there is no cause for concern.”

“This is a boarding school … the students were there for a month. When they got to school, they had no symptoms. Of the 60 who tested positive (Sunday night) only two are symptomatic. Our team is there. . We have tested them all, “he said.

Manjunath said that 105 RATs (rapid antigen tests, the least reliable type) and 424 RT-PCR (considered the most accurate COVID-19 test) had been carried out and that a team of medical and government officials was stationed at the quarantine.

Read more: Kannada actress Soujanya found dead in an apartment: death note recovered.

“We will do a new test on the seventh day. The school has been closed until October 20. There is no need to worry, this is a proactive measure,” he added.

Of the students who tested positive, 14 were from Tamil Nadu, and the rest were from Karnataka.

One of the students had complained of vomiting and diarrhea, after which a test was carried out.

On that student who tested positive for the virus, COVID-19 tests were conducted for the entire school, including teaching and non-teaching staff, numbering about 60.

“The children have been infected … so at the urging of the school, we are going to take our children home,” Shankar, a tutor to one of the students, told NDTV.

“I will return to Bangalore … 60 students have been infected here. I will return on October 20,” said a student from class 12.

Karnataka recently allowed schools to open for Class 6 to Class 8 face-to-face classes while requiring students and staff to follow strict COVID-19 safety protocols.

Only schools in Taluks where the positivity rate is less than two percent were able to reopen.

Under the new rules, students had to present a consent letter from their parents or guardians to attend face-to-face classes, and these were not mandatory as online classes continue to be held.

Face-to-face classes for students from Class 9 to Class 12 were allowed from August 23, and all face-to-face classes from Class 6 onward can be held in full force.

Karnataka reported 629 new Covid cases in the previous 24 hours on Wednesday morning, bringing the number of active cases to just over 12,600. The positivity rate in the state is around 67 percent.