BHUBANESWAR: The cluster outbreak at Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) has brought under scanner serious loopholes in adherence of the Covid-19 protocols in the Capital as the B-school had conducted its convocation without informing the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The convocation for 2018-20 was held on March 20 (Saturday) in which over 150 people had attended in physical mode. Sources said students had come in from many states to participate the event and were on the campus till 9.30 pm. Institute authorities, however, clarified that the test reports came much later and the convocation had nothing to do with the spread of the virus as it was organised in a separate space with adequate safety measures.
While it is still early days to know what the convocation’s impact would be, sources said, there were persons who had developed symptoms before the event and it was not paid attention to. The XIMB management informed the BMC and police authorities on Sunday. On Monday morning, BMC sealed the B-school premises.
Sources said initially, reports of a few tests came on March 20 night and students were immediately asked to vacate the campus. Over 700 students enrolled to the two-year management programme were in the hostels and many vacated the campus by Sunday night. The BMC will have a task at hand to trace all those because they are believed to have used trains and flights to return home.
When higher education was allowed in the State, the second-year management students of XIMB returned to the campus in the second week of February while in the next week, the first-year students came back.
BMC officials who collected around 200 samples of students and staff said in many cases, students had returned from outside states, which could be the reason for the spread. Institute authorities, however, refuted the claim and said it appears to be a case of local transmission as the first year and second year students had returned to the campus in February.
“We had put all measures in place and the classes also ran smoothly. However, students used to move out of the campus during which we suspect they may have contracted the virus,” said an official. The incident has exposed the poor adherence of Covid protocol and enforcement by the authorities. The BMC officials, however, remained silent. Municipal Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary couldn’t be reached for his comments, while an official said that the matter will be looked into after contact tracing is completed and infection spread is contained.