24 students of private agri college in Thanjavur test positive for coronavirus

Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district continued to report a high number of fresh COVID-19 cases as 24 students of a private agriculture college tested positive for coronavirus in the last two days. The district reported 108 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday as Tamil Nadu’s tally of daily cases crossed 2,000 again. As per reports, one student of the college tested positive for the virus which led to the district health officials take swab samples from all the students. Of them, nine students were confirmed of having COVID-19 on Saturday and 15 students were tested positive on Sunday. A total of 251 students from schools and colleges have tested positive for the virus in the district so far.

Though the college was not conducting in-person classes for students, practical examinations were being held in-person, which allegedly led to the spread of the virus. The educational institutions cluster in Thanjavur began early on March 8 after students in a government aided school in the district tested positive for the virus. After that, the district administration ordered closure of 11 schools to prevent the spread and also subjected over 2 lakh students studying in classes 9 to 12 to RT-PCR tests for COVID-19. The district administration also set up 14 monitoring teams to increase surveillance in the district.

Meanwhile, the daily cases in Tamil Nadu crossed the 2,000-mark on Sunday with 2,194 persons testing positive for the virus. The number of persons undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in the state as of Sunday is 13,070. Of the 2,194 new cases, Chennai accounted for 833 cases and Chengalpattu district accounted for 188 new cases. Coimbatore reported 180 new cases on Sunday while Thiruvallur reported 117 new cases. Thanjavur reported 108 cases and Kancheepuram district confirmed COVID-19 to 84 more persons on Sunday. The state also reported 11 deaths due to COVID-19 on Sunday.