NIT Hamirpur in HP declared 'mini containment zone' as 59 more students test COVID positive

Fifty-nine more students of the National Institute of Technology NIT here tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday forcing the authorities to declare the institute as mini containment zone, a district official said.A total of 140 NIT Hamirpur students have been found infected with the coronavirus in the last three days.

Fifty-nine more students of the National Institute of Technology (NIT) here tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday forcing the authorities to declare the institute as 'mini containment zone', a district official said.

A total of 140 NIT Hamirpur students have been found infected with the coronavirus in the last three days. On Wednesday 42 and on Thursday 39 students of the institute were found COVID-19 positive.

Apart from the 59 NIT students, 24 other people tested positive for COVID-19 in Hamirpur district on Friday, the official said.

This has raised the number of active cases to 233 in the district. All of them have been quarantined at their places. The official said that in all 726 samples were tested on Friday and the results of 83 of them came out positive.

The number of total confirmed cases in the district has risen to 18,318 as against 17,776 recoveries, he added. In his order on Friday, the Hamirpur sub-divisional magistrate stated that strict measures are required to prevent the spread of the virus, which if not taken immediately, may cause further hazards. The area was imposed with Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as per the order issued by the SDM. Under no circumstances will any person or vehicle, except officers/officials' vehicles on government duty, shall be allowed, the order specified.

Essential commodities such as milk, groceries, vegetables, pharmaceutical products and gas supply shall be allowed with prior permission, it said. “No person shall leave their homes or move on foot or by vehicles or travel or roam around or stand on any road or public places in the above referred notified area of the respective gram panchayat ward till further orders,” it said.

With the spike in cases, students have begun moving back to their native places fearing infection.