The second wave of coronavirus has gripped the national capital Delhi with over 25,000 new cases reported on Sunday. The wave has reached the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University with 74 students and staff testing positive for the virus out of which the condition of four is said to be critical.
Entertainer Swara Bhaskar’s mother Ira Bhaskar, a professor at JNU, has also tested positive. Their cook has also tested positive. The same was informed by Swara through a tweet on Monday.
It’s come home. My mother and our cook have both tested positive. 🥺🥺😣😣
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) April 19, 2021
We are all isolating at home in #Delhi
Double mask up and stay at home people. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
As per the tweet, her mother and the cook have isolated themselves at their home.
Students and staff critical
Two students have been admitted at Fortis while one has been admitted at BL Kapoor Hospital in a critical condition. The rest have been shifted to Jhajjar AIIMS and Sultanpuri quarantine center, as per the report.
As per a report in Bhaskar, an ambulance driver who ferried the students to the hospital informed that one student was taken to three hospitals on April 18 where they were denied admission before finding a bed in BL Kapoor Hospital. The said student’s SPO2 level had dropped to 40%, yet was made to wait in the hospital for around 6 hours before getting admission.
A health official on the condition of anonymity revealed that most students and staff who have been shifted to the quarantine centres are in an extremely critical state with SPO2 level dropping below 40%. He also informed that except one or two most had to be put on oxygen support, however, their condition continues to remain worrisome.
JNU’s response
Recording a rise in cases on the campus, the university constituted a Covid-19 response team committee. A member of the team, Dr Saurabh Sharma informed that the committee is in regular touch with the students and the condition of all the students and staff infected is being monitored regularly.
The university has 3000 students, 1000 staff and around 350 guards. The rise in cases has put the entire campus at a high risk.
Delhi under lockdown
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has announced a lockdown from 10 pm tonight till 5 am on April 26 after the city recorded more than 20,000 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours.
In a video message to the citizens, Kerjriwal said, “I appeal to Delhiites to follow lockdown which is necessary to reduce Covid cases; we will improve health system during this time,” the chief minister said.
The Delhi CM has also appealed to the migrant workers not to leave the city during the ‘small lockdown’ after reports of migrant laborers fleeing the city surfaced in the media.
