5 IIT Roorkee hostels sealed after 60 students test COVID positive

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, has sealed five of its hostels and declared them containment zones after 60 students tested positive for COVID-19 in two days.

A total of 54 students tested positive on April 5 and 6 more the next day. The infected students have been asked to remain in their respective hostels till further orders.

“After the 60 students tested positive, Korle, Kasturba, Sarojini, Govind Bhavan and Vigyan Kunj hostels have been sealed and declared containment zones by the Haridwar district health department. The institute at present has about 3,000 students, about 1,200 of whom are in these five hostels,” an IIT Roorkee spokesperson was quoted by the media as saying.

All boarders in the affected hostels have been asked to remain inside their rooms, where they are being provided with food and other requirements and are under medical observation.

The institute has turned its Ganga Bhavan hostel into a COVID care centre for treating infected students under the supervision of the district health department. The institute has also converted one guest house and another in-house establishment into quarantine centres for the first contacts of the infected students.

The IIT Roorkee management has asked other students to stay back at their homes till further orders. Classes are being held online only.