Two students test positive, doctors suspect college group pic session

Two students test positive, doctors suspect college group pic session

Sunitha.Rao@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru:11.03.2021 

Two students in a private PU college in Bengaluru tested positive for Covid-19, two days ago and doctors are mystified over how they contracted the virus. Aged 18 years, the two, both boys, were screened at a flu clinic at a private hospital after they showed symptoms. They are now in home isolation.

“They said they followed all precautionary measures in classes and on the campus,” said Dr Sudha Menon, head of internal medicine, Fortis hospital, Bannerghatta Road. She suspects a group photo session to be the source of infection. “None had worn masks during the photo session and the students stood shoulder-to-shoulder.”

With no restrictions on movement and people moving around freely – many of them without masks – Covid cases are on the rise, say doctors. On Thursday, Bengaluru reported 488 new Covid cases.

Of the 10 districts with the most cases in the country, Bengaluru stands fifth with 5,526 active cases as on Thursday morning, Union health ministry data reveals. Pune has the highest number of active cases at 18,474 followed by Nagpur (12,724), Thane (10,460) and Mumbai (9,973).

Doctors warn that lowering one’s guard during regular classes could trigger a surge. Dr Ambanna Gowda, a Bengaluru-based physician, said a 19-year-old- boy consulted him online for medication after testing positive for Covid on Thursday.

“With colleges reopening there is a spike,” Dr Gowda said. “This was expected. The boy said he had gone to college and perhaps picked up the infection from the canteen.” The boy’s parents have also been asked to take the test as they have symptoms.”

At MS Ramaiah hospital more than 40 patients were admitted with the infection. The number was just 20 three weeks ago, says Dr Karthik A, consultant, department of medicine at the hospital. He said of the 50-60 people turning up at the flu clinic, about 10% are testing positive.

“There is a 20-30% increase in the number of people coming to the flu clinic compared to the past three weeks,” Dr Karthik said. “If there are 2-3 carriers of the virus in a gathering of 100 people, it can spread to a minimum of 10 individuals and the chain continues. People are facing Covid fatigue, but we need to be cautious for next month as a surge is obvious.”

Adding to concerns is the high number of cases being reported from Maharashtra. On Thursday, state health minister K Sudhakar, in a tweet, admitted that Maharashtra reporting over 13,000 cases in the past 24 hours is cause for concern.

SUPERSPREADERS? Doctors say there has been a 20-30% increase in the number of people visiting flu clinics in hospitals in the past week