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770 cases in 11 days: Soaring COVID-19 graph at MIT Manipal sets alarm bells ringing

Considering that students would have visited local restaurants, it has been decided to consider nearby eateries as a buffer zone and the staff there will be tested on a priority basis, said the DC

UDUPI: MIT Manipal, an engineering college that was declared a containment zone by the Udupi district administration on March 17, reported 184 more COVID-19 cases on Friday taking the total number of cases in the cluster to 770 since March 15.

DC G Jagadish told The New Indian Express on Friday that the MIT Manipal campus could be the cluster with the highest number of COVID cases, but measures are in place to contain the spread. "Apart from isolating the patients who are mostly symptomatic, robust testing was conducted and all 6,000 students have been tested," he said.

Further, considering that students would have visited local restaurants, it has been decided to consider nearby eateries as a buffer zone and the staff there will be tested on a priority basis, he said.

Meanwhile, staff at Primary Health Centres in Udupi district have been asked by the district health department to monitor anybody with symptoms like fever and breathing problems and conduct COVID-19 tests for them on a priority basis as the district has seen a rise in cases. On Friday, a total of 210 COVID-19 cases were reported from Udupi district.

The Udupi district administration has also set a target of conducting 2,000 COVID tests per day. Udupi DHO Dr Sudhirchandra Sooda said the staff in PHCs in the district have been asked to test the vulnerable sections on priority as it is important to check the spread of the disease in rural places.

"We have also made the vaccines available at district, taluk government hospitals, Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres. Vaccination is also being done at 19 private hospitals in the district, he informed. The DHO further said that the district health authority is capable of handling the situation even if 400 COVID-19 cases are reported on a day.