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UDUPI: While many of the students in the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) campus, that was declared as the state’s biggest Covid cluster, have returned home after getting an RT-PCR negative report, students who are currently on campus are beginning to feel lonely and powerless, and are living in constant uncertainty.

The campus was declared a containment zone on March 17, and so far, more than 1,000 Covid-19 cases have been reported from it. Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha said that the positivity rate at MIT stood at 15%, while the positivity rate of the district was 2%. “We are taking all the necessary precautions to ensure that the spread of the disease is contained,” he said.

However, students feel that boredom is setting in on the campus, especially as they do not have access to sports facilities, and cannot step out for a haircut, or to repair their mobile phones or laptops.

A third-year engineering student said that the campus no longer feels like it used to.

“However, we are confident that things will soon get back to normal. We stayed back despite testing negative for Covid-19, because we do not want to miss campus life. However, on the brighter side, as a student body, we have only grown stronger. We are reaching out to help one another, and checking out on friends who tested positive for Covid-19. An exclusive WhatsApp group has been formed, to only share information, rules and regulations. While the parents of students are worried, students are concerned about their practical classes, and many feel that they are not getting any response from the college, on what’s ahead,” he said.

A student who tested positive about a week ago, told TOI, “There are certain issues in the quarantine facility. There were some luxuries that we were enjoying in our regular hostel which are not available here. Here, the bathrooms are common, and we have to collect food ourselves.”

Most students felt that they have grown stronger, especially because they have learnt to face the pandemic, and take care of themselves, despite being away from their parents.

Mahe registrar Narayana Sabhahit said, “We are trying our best to ensure that students are not put to any kind of hardship. Testing of all students and faculty has been completed, and the testing for the rest of the staff is almost complete.”