The number of COVID-19 positive cases at the centrally-run Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district has gone up to 51, which includes 48 students, a health official said on December 26. Their samples are sent for genome sequencing to assess whether it is the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus, another official said. Just a few days ago, a total of 19 students from the same residential school, located at the Takali Dhokeshwar village under Parner taluka of Ahmednagar district, had tested positive for the virus.

The school has over 400 students across Classes V to XII. The taluk health officer Dr Prakash Lalge told news agency PTI that all the students and the staff members of the school had undergone RT-PCR tests. "So far, 51 people, including 48 students and three staff members, from the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya have tested positive for Coronavirus. All of them have been isolated and hospitalised. Most of the students are asymptomatic and their health is stable," the official said.

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Ahmednagar District Collector Rajendra Bhosale said that the school campus has been declared a 'containment zone'. "I visited the school today. As a precautionary measure, we have deployed a medical team comprising a doctor and two nurses to monitor other students on the campus (in case they develop any symptoms)," he said.

Bhosale said that some parents wanted to take their wards home and they have been told a decision on this would be taken after the students complete their quarantine period.