The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) has identified a private nursing college in Bengaluru’s Horamavu as a COVID-19 hotspot after 34 students tested positive there since August 28. This is incidentally the biggest COVID cluster in the city in recent days, according to The Hindustan Times. Officials told HT that out of the 34 students, 22 are girl students while the rest are boys, and many of them were returnees from Kerala and had a negative RT-PCR test report during arrival. All other clusters in BBMP areas are not more than seven cases. Out of the 102 such clusters, 41 are apartment buildings, 53 are residential houses, five are hostels and PGs, and two are schools and colleges, officials added.

However, none of the 34 students have any severe symptoms and are presently under treatment at a COVID Care Centre. The Times of India reported that BBMP officials had tested more than 100 students in the college on August 28 after a few of them reported symptoms. The TOI report further said that while all of them tested positive for rapid antigen tests, their results came back negative in RT-PCR tests. Since then, the college has been sealed by the BBMP for 14 days and the samples have been sent for genome sequencing. The TOI report further said that the tests carried out in the vicinity of the college did not come back positive.

This comes after earlier in the week, a private college in Kolar reported that 65 students from Kerala tested positive for the coronavirus. Owing to the high case numbers in neighbouring Kerala, the state government has undertaken special surveillance measures for incoming travellers. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, state Health Minister Dr Sudhakar said, “Kerala is still witnessing a high number of cases. Therefore we have introduced mandatory institutional quarantine. All educational institutions and industrial houses must arrange for institutional quarantine for seven days themselves in the interest of their students and employees.”