Amid the ongoing Covid-19 cluster at the Vellore Institue of Technology (VIT) in Kelambakkam, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday accused the ‘North Indian students’ of spreading the virus in the state of Tamil Nadu. “North Indian students are spreading Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu. Students from Kelambakkam VIT College and Sathyasai college have got affected by Covid in hostels and classes. In some North Indian states, Covid cases are still increasing”, he said.
This is a day after 42 students of the Vellore Institue of Technology (VIT) in Kelambakkam tested positive for the virus. The Institute which has a strength of 5000 students already had reported 33 positive cases as of May 30. According to the reports, the college authorities have been instructed by the Health Department to isolate the students on a separate floor and conduct saturation testing on the campus. Accordingly, samples of 1200 students have been sent for testing.
On May 31, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Radhakrishnan stated that the government was committed to curbing the spread of the virus. “People with symptoms will first be tested and the students testing positive for the virus will be isolated”, he was quoted.
The menace of Covid-19 has spread across the state of Tamil Nadu with Chennai and Chengalpet together having nearly 88 percent of the cases in the state. Other than VIT, students at Anna University, IIT Madras, and Shri Sathyasai Medical College and Research Institute have also been suffering from the Covid spread since April 2022.
Reports mention that as these institutions, the cluster on the VIT campus started after a batch of students arrived on campus on May 14 from several states. One of the students who had developed flu-like symptoms had tested positive on May 21.
At present, there are 542 active Covid cases in the state. On Tuesday, 98 new Covid cases were reported from the state with Chengalpet and Chennai accounting for the majority of cases, 46 and 44 respectively. A total of 12,356 samples have been tested in the last 24 hours and the death toll in the state stands at 38,025 with no fatality recorded in the last 24 hours.