In a relief to K'taka authorities, PU student who wrote exams tests negative for coronavirus

Her father, a health department official, had tested positive for the virus on Friday, a day after the examination.
In a relief to K'taka authorities, PU student who wrote exams tests negative for coronavirus
In a relief to K'taka authorities, PU student who wrote exams tests negative for coronavirus
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A Pre-University student who wrote the English board examination on June 18 has tested negative for coronavirus. She was in institutional quarantine after the examination since her father tested positive for the virus on Friday, a day after the examination. 

However, her sample results returned negative around 3 pm on Saturday in a relief to Karnataka government officials.

The student from Bengaluru had written the English board examination on June 18. Media reports had suggested that she had written the exam despite being in home quarantine and had erased the quarantine stamp on her hand. 

Karnataka Education Minister S Suresh Kumar refuted the reports and stated that the student was not in quarantine when she wrote the examination. "I want to clarify that the student was not in quarantine and did not attend the exam by erasing the quarantine seal. Her father is in quarantine but she was not," he said in a press briefing on Saturday. 

The student's father, a health department official, tested positive on Friday, a day after the examination. He was asymptomatic. Even though his swab was taken earlier, he dropped his daughter to the examination centre on June 18. "We will be enquiring into the incident. We won't entertain breezy attitude among officials and we will be informing the health department to remind officials of their responsibilities," Suresh Kumar said.

He added that no student who attended the examination is required to be quarantined. Following the news of the father testing positive, 23 students in her examination centre were asked to be quarantined at home. 

The scare comes just days before the class 10 board exam which is set to begin from June 25. Suresh Kumar admitted that in some examination centres in the state, physical distancing norms were not followed during the second PU English examination. 

"We will be taking action against the centres where distancing norms were not followed. The education department officials spoke to Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) in all districts and checked the progress of the preparation for the upcoming class 10 exams. We will be following the norms presented to the High Court and Supreme Court," Suresh Kumar said. 

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