281 Students Now Positive At Karnataka Medical College, It Closes

A medical college in Karnataka's Dharwad has become a Covid hotspot with 77 more testing positive, taking the total number of cases to 281.

The SDM College of Medical Sciences, a tertiary care centre, is considered the medical hub of north Karnataka.

Fresh admissions to the hospital have been suspended. The entry and exit to the hospital has been blocked and of those admitted only the one who test negative will be discharged.

Most of the people infected at the college were fully vaccinated against coronavirus, officials said, adding that a recent freshers' party organised inside the campus led to the outbreak. The party continued for two-three 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 a immune escape phenomena," he said.

However, he said, the disease is not severe.

Genomic sequencing will help decide on the new kind of variant, Dr Ballal said.

"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.