Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], December 16 : Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday expressed concerns over positive Covid-19 cases detected at IIT Madras and advised students to take adequate precautions amid the pandemic.
On December 13, several students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Upon gathering this information, Gehlot wrote on Twitter, "The news that in IIT Madras, 183 people tested positive for COVID-19 including students this month is worrying. There remains a grave risk of infection cases rising in gatherings."
The tweet added, "Due to health consideration of our students and risk of spread of coronavirus infection, we have still not allowed educational institutions in our state to open. For state government, health and wellbeing of all are paramount."
According to a statement from IIT Madras, the technical institute has been functioning on limited capacity with only 100 percent of students in the hostels. As soon as a spurt in symptomatic cases was reported by some students residing in the hostels, the institute consulted the civic authorities and arranged for all students residing in hostels to be tested for coronavirus.
All students have been asked to remain in their hostel rooms while packed food is being supplied to them.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, till 08:00 IST, Tamil Nadu reported 76 new active cases making the total number of active cases of COVID-19 rise to 10,039. The number of new deaths are 14 taking the total tally to 11,909. On a positive note, the number of fresh discharges are 1,203 making the total rise to 7,78,081.