As many as 19 people living on the Indian Institute of Science campus in Bengaluru including students, faculty, staff, and their family members have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, as of July 31.

On retesting within a few days of the first test, 12 out of the 15 infected students who stay in the hostels have tested negative, IISc said in a statement released to the media.

Most of those who tested positive were found to be asymptomatic and were treated in a COVID Care Centre managed by the campus Health Centre doctors.

All measures according to the protocol specified by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) have been taken and the containment protocol is in place with respect to disinfection and sanitisation of hostels and departments to which the patients belong, IISc said.

Pensioners and employees who live off-campus have also been infected and about 34 of them have tested positive, the statement added.

After the cases emerged, IISc requested the BBMP for approval to start a testing facility in the campus. 

"IISc has obtained approval from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to start a sample collection facility for COVID-19 testing and for testing the samples at IISc's COVID-19 test centre to obtain results quickly. It is also in the process of 

contacting hospitals to help manage the dedicated COVID Care Centre on campus for mild and asymptomatic patients, as well as for more serious cases being treated at hospitals," IISc said in a statement.

Bengaluru currently has 36,290 active COVID-19 cases. The city reported 1,497 cases on Monday taking the total number of cases to over 60,000.

A total of 23,603 patients infected with the virus have made full recovery.