CHENNAI: Seventy-four inmates of a home here for the intellectually challenged, including children, have tested positive for COVID-19. Chennai corporation officials said they are monitoring the inmates of 'Balavihar' which has both a school and home for the intellectually challenged on the same campus at Kilpauk. Officials said those who tested positive are recovering.
The home has a total strength of 184. The 74 who tested positive for the virus were isolated and are being monitored in the same premises. A corporation official said, "A special screening programme has been organised and our doctors visit them everyday to check their blood oxygen levels and vitals."
A source within the school told The New Indian Express that the school had asked a few staff members to continue coming in for class until recently when some of the inmates began developing symptoms.
"Some of the staff were asked to come to work and we suspect that one of them could have carried the virus. Donors are usually asked to leave at the gate. The inmates should have been isolated at the home (where they stay) itself as soon as the second outbreak started because they are prone to more severe disease," the source said.
While calls to the school's project officer went unattended, a corporation official said that the students' saturation levels were stable and there were no cases of symptoms worsening.
"That is why we're monitoring them in the premises itself. They are doing well," he said.
S Namburajan, state general secretary, Tamil Nadu Association for Rights of All Types of Differently-Abled and Caregivers, said that persons with disabilities who are eligible for vaccinations must be vaccinated at their doorsteps.
"They cannot go to vaccination centres at this point because it will further expose them to the virus and public transport is an issue. So, it is better to vaccinate them at their doorsteps," he said.
ALSO WATCH: