The total number of COVID-19 cases in SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital in Karnataka's Dharwad rose to 178 on Friday after 112 more samples returned positive.
District Health Officer Dr. Yashwant A Madinkar, while quoted by the Indian Express said that the results of 939 samples have been obtained since Wednesday. "Nearly 3,000 samples will be sent for testing in total from the campus. We have also suggested random testing of patients admitted to the hospital within the campus," he said.
Dr Madinkar also said some samples would be sent for genomic sequencing to ascertain which variant of Covid-19 has caused the infections.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil said all cases were "breakthrough infections", meaning those who tested positive had received both doses of a vaccine. He explained that most patients were asymptomatic, while some had mild symptoms.
He further stated that all those who have tested positive will be quarantined for two weeks. The health conditions of most are stable. He has sought details on the precautionary measures that were implemented in the institute.
A preliminary inquiry has indicated that all those who contracted the infection had attended a students' programme at D Veerendra Heggade Kalakshetra, located within the college campus in Karnataka, on November 17. Patil said most of the patients were first-year students.
Dharwad had been recording zero positive cases in the last few days. However, as per the health bulletin issued on Thursday, it accounted for nearly 14 per cent of the total new cases identified in Karnataka.