29 under-grad medical students of KEM Hospital test positive for Covid-19

The dean has made it compulsory for students to wear masks even in the hostel rooms. Pic/Ashish Raje

Atleast 29 undergraduate medical students of King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College have tested positive for COVID-19. The dean of the institutes has issued a circular with stringent measures to be followed at the hospital after this. All the infected students are residents of a hostel.

According to a senior official of KEM Hospital, around 1,100 medical students attended a cultural programme last week after which one of them developed symptoms. The student tested positive after which close contacts were tested and 29 were found positive. It is said that 27 of these students are fully vaccinated while one has taken only one dose and one hasn't not taken any doses.

These 29 undergraduate medical students include first and second year MBBS students. While 14 of them have been admitted to SevenHills Hospital (SHH) the rest have been quarantined in the hostel. Of these 14, 13 are completely vaccinated while one has not taken any doses.

"Out of the 14 admitted, three have mild symptoms. All are stable and under observation," said a doctor treating them at SHH.

Sources say that COVID-19 safety norms were not followed at the programme, which has irked the administration. "We will be repeating RT-PCR tests for all medical students and their close contacts," said a KEM Hospital official.

Dean issues strict instructions

Among the many restrictions following the outbreak of the infection among medical students, the dean has made it compulsory to wear masks even in hostel rooms and prohibited eating food together.

All teaching activities will be held online for the next 10 days. "The students are instructed not to leave the hostel premises for any work except for giving swabs. All mass gatherings are strictly prohibited," said the official.

In the circular, the dean has instructed all students to get themselves tested for COVID-19 immediately and inform the hostel warden with a hard copy of the result. Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, said they have asked the hospital administration to conduct tests on all the 1,100 students at the event. "We have also asked them to trace all the close contacts of these students and do the testing. Most of them are vaccinated," he said.