BENGALURU: The Indian Institute of Science has suspended its plans to resume academic activities after its first Covid-19 positive case was reported recently. Institute authorities said a resident of the faculty quarters area tested positive on June 24 and has been hospitalised.
The patient’s family is in 14-day quarantine on the campus. The BBMP authorities have sealed off the building, declared it a containment zone and are tracing the patient’s primary and secondary contacts. The announcement, which came on Friday, has left 839 PhD students, who were to return to the campus between June 29 and July 15, in a quandry.
“Doctoral research students are losing valuable time,” a researcher told TNSE. “This has been a harrowing experience. Students are taking three days to travel to Bengaluru, only to suddenly get an email during the journey that they won’t be allowed to enter the campus,” said a student. Institute Registrar K V S Hari did not respond to queries. A batch of 1,181 students from Karnataka and elsewhere were to return to the campus by June 20, and the rest by August 14.