Burla: The Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) here in Sambalpur district will send at least 21 swab samples out of the 57 covid-19 infected medical students and staff for genome sequencing, a spokesperson said Saturday.
The swab samples were collected earlier in the day and will be sent to Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) in Bhubaneswar Sunday morning. The main purpose is to detect the presence of new variant(s), if any.
“Most of the students have taken the second dose of vaccination for Covid-19. We wonder how such a large number of students got infected despite receiving both the doses. We are conducting the genome sequencing to know the presence of any new kind of Covid-19 variants among the recent infected hostel students,” said Lalmohan Nayak, VIMSAR Superintendent and Senior Professor.
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“Almost all the infected students are asymptomatic and they did not have any severity. We will collect as many as 21 swab samples from them which will be sent to Bhubaneswar Sunday,” Nayak added.
Meanwhile, an employee of VIMSAR, who was staying in the hostel, has also tested positive taking the tally of infected persons to 57.
Sambalpur district administration has declared several hostels and staff quarters of VIMSAR as micro containment zone and buffer zones after a number of students tested positive for Covid-19, recently.
Notably, 22 MBBS students of the institute were initially found infected with the virus Monday. The students had developed symptoms of Covid-19 following their annual function named ‘UTKARSH 2021’.
PNN