Hyderabad: Three students at the University of Hyderabad have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last five days, the university said on Wednesday.
The university said that the concerned authorities have responded quickly and shifted the affected students to either quarantine on campus or to a hospital. “The authorities have sanitised the work spaces, and have advised other students who came into contact with them to follow safety measures and get tested if they are symptomatic or if they choose to rule out infection,” it said.
All the three are M.Sc. students in the School of Life Sciences and are among the post-graduate students in their final semester that the university authorities had permitted to return to the campus.
On January 5, the university began the process of in-person classes for postgraduate students in phased manner. This was done after the Vice-Chancellor had approved the Task Force recommendation to permit about 148 terminal semester students of the Science Schools and SN School to return to the campus for completion of laboratory/practice courses.
The Task Force, headed by Prof. Vinod Pavarala, was constituted in July last year amid the pandemic to outline a roadmap for the resumption of suspended teaching-learning activities. It has been monitoring the current state of the prevalence of COVID-19 and the potential roll-out of vaccination and also following the “Unlock guidelines” being issued by the government from time to time.
According to the university, over 700 research scholars and Master’s students have so far been permitted to return to the campus to resume essential academic work.
Varsity issues appeal to students
In a detailed statement issued on Wednesday, Prof. Pavarala, while highlighting the dangers of COVID-19 and efforts of the Task Force to resume normal academic work, requested the students to follow all Covid related norms.
“On behalf of the full Task Force, it is our sincere appeal to all of you to be alert and fully conscious of your responsibility to follow all Covid related norms while you are on the campus — whether it is in your hostel rooms and mess halls, labs and practice spaces or in other public spaces,” the statement read.
“It is your duty as much as it is the institution’s to minimise health risks to yourself and to your fellow students, not to mention those of your faculty members and the staff.”
