Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (EP)

Udupi, Mar 30: The district has lately been subjected to a spike in coronavirus cases and amid such circumstances, Karnataka minister of health and family welfare Dr K Sudhakar visited the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) in the company of Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat. During his visit, the health minister also held a meeting to devise measures to control the spread of the infection.

The coronavirus cases in the district and in the MIT campus have been on the rise and the number of admissions of corona patients in Manipal hospital has gone up. In the meeting, Dr Sudhakar and MLA Bhat obtained details of the measures being taken to control the spread of the disease and held discussions on the precautions to be carried out.

Speaking to media persons after visiting the MIT campus Dr Sudhakar said, "The district commissioner has been instructed to take appropriate measures amid rising corona cases in the district. There are 8,000 students pursuing education in this esteemed institution and 3,000 staff working in MIT. Given, the increase in the Covid positivity rate on the campus after March 15, we have instructed the officials of district administration and college management to adopt required measures."

"More than 950 coronavirus infections have been detected on the campus. Over 9,000 people have undergone the RT-PCR test. Most of the positive cases reported are asymptomatic in nature, while some of them displayed mild symptoms. The ones with mild symptoms can be spreaders, and therefore people belonging to vulnerable age groups can easily get infected. Our priority is to control the mortality rate. We urge the public to follow all the Covid guidelines in public places. If the situation worsens, the state government will issue stringent steps to contain the disease," he added. 

Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha, district health officer, MIT professors and lecturers were present.