The Madras Christian College has decided conduct COVID-19 tests on all hostelers after a total of 12 students tested positive for the Coronavirus on January 5. On the same day, 67 students from the Madras Institute of Technology tested positive for the virus. In both the clusters, the Times of India reported, most students were asymptomatic and in stable condition. Authorities suspect that a majority of students were infected with the Omicron variant of the virus.
MCC conducted tests following the return of students to the campus after the Christmas holidays. Paul Wilson, MCC principal, reportedly said, "We have isolated five students in our hostel. We have asked the hostel students to stay back to undergo the RT-PCR test on January 6." Meanwhile, MIT has quarantined 47 male students at the Marutham hostel and six female students at the Ponni hostel. The remaining 14 have opted for home quarantine. The college started testing 169 students on December 30 as a precautionary measure, during which seven students tested positive.
Soon, the infected students and their close contacts were isolated. Earlier last month, the college had tested 1047 students out of which 60 tested positive. MIT Dean T Thyagarajan told TOI that the students who tested positive are quarantined in college hostels, while those who tested negative were allowed to leave. On January 3, the college started online classes for the departments where students positive. Health officials and revenue officials visited the campus to review the situation.
