District administration of Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir issued an alert after 175 students of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University were tested positive for Coronavirus. Although the University has already been closed on January 1, when 30 students were tested positive, reports of 145 students were also confirmed that they were infected with the virus.
"As of now, a total of 175 students have been tested positive. These students are living in the hostel of the University", a source said and added that students have been isolated in the hostel. Earlier 30 students were tested positive.
Special teams of the health department rush to conduct testing
After 30 students were tested positive, special teams of the health department were deputed in University to conduct testing. On Monday and Tuesday, 820 tests of students and staff members were conducted. Out of 820 samples tested, 145 reports were positive.
Local students, who were tested positive, were sent to their homes for isolation. Those living in the hostels have been isolated by following COVID protocol.
This is the first time after the second wave, such a huge number of students have been tested positive in any educational institute in J&K.
After 30 students were tested positive, the district disaster management authority has ordered immediate closure of the University until further orders.
"It has been found expedient to close Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University to contain the spread of the disease and ensure the safety of the students and general public", said an order issued by District Magistrate Charandeep Singh on January 1. The university had been conducting offline classes since September 2021.
J&K reports 199 fresh cases
199 fresh Corona cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir during the last 24 hours, thus taking the number of total active cases in the Union Territory to 1,541.
Among the 199 new cases, 109 belong to the Kashmir division while 90 are from Jammu province.
The total number of positive cases in the Kashmir division have reached 215,467 including 212,206 recoveries and 2,331 deaths while a total number of positive cases in Jammu province have reached to 126,534 including 123,724 recoveries and 2,199 deaths.
The officials said that the total number of active cases in Jammu and Kashmir are 1,541 including 930 in Kashmir division and 611 from the Jammu province.
With 156 more recoveries, the tally of total recoveries in Jammu and Kashmir has reached 335,930 which is 98.23 percent of the total cases.
