33 more test positive, IIT Madras cluster cases rise to 145 – The Hindu

With 33 more persons testing positive for COVID-19 at IIT Madras, the total number of cases in the cluster rose to 145 on Wednesday.

Whole Genome Sequencing of 25 samples from the cluster identified BA.2, a sub-variant of Omicron, and no new variant was detected, according to officials.

Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, who inspected the campus on Wednesday, said that of the 1,892 samples tested on Tuesday night, 33 returned positive, registering a positivity rate of 1.7%. Since April 19, when the cluster was identified, the cumulative positivity rate was 2.9%. A total of 145 persons tested positive out of the 4,974 samples tested so far.

Out of the 1,023 samples tested, 32 returned positive on Tuesday.

“All the initial 25 samples that were sent from the IIT Madras cluster for Whole Genome Sequencing were of the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron and no new variant was detected. Already, in March, 93% of the Whole Genome Sequencing results had revealed the BA.2 sub-variant in the State,” he said.

According to data released by the Health Department, there were a total of 7,490 students in the 19 hostels. So far, 4,974 persons in 26 locations on the campus, including the 19 hostels, were tested.

A total of 2,729 persons in the 19 hostels should be tested. Of them, only 19 remained to be tested at Mandakini Hostel, which had a total of 1,077 students. Mandakini Hostel has the most number of COVID-19 cases, at 38.