Rajah Muthiah Medical College, IIT Madras turn into COVID clusters after students, staff test positive

Rajah Muthiah Medical College in the Annamalai University campus and IIT Madras have been turned into COVID clusters after 58 and 17 students tested positive at each respectively. 

A total of 22 boys and 33 girls from the three hostels of the medical college tested positive. The health department officials said that students are undergoing treatment at the college's hospital and the campus has been turned into a containment zone.

The officials added that the varsity conducted COVID tests as a precautionary measure on January 10 and it is then that the 58 students were found positive. On the very next day, 500 samples were tested and the results are awaited.

The first-year MBBS students, if tested negative, were asked by the college to vacate the campus and the University in a circular issued on January 12 said that the college will resume classes only on January 23. 

COVID cluster in Chennai
The health department officials said that apart from the 17 students, other staff and administrative members of IIT M have also tested positive for the Coronavirus. The officials said the tally of total infections at IIT M goes up to 58 and all have been asked to either home quarantine or to avail institutional quarantine as advised by the government testing facility.

The family members of those who tested positive are placed under home quarantine. IIT M said that it had informed all students, who had reached the college campus after January 1, that they would be allowed inside classrooms and laboratories after they quarantine themselves for a week or produce COVID-19 negative test results.