53 School girls test Covid-19 positive in Odisha, 12 in Jaipur

Covid-19 among school children and medical college students were reported from Odisha and Rajasthan on Tuesday. Fifty-three girl children of a government-aided high school in Odisha's Sundargarh and 22 MBBS students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), Burla in Sambalpur tested positive for Covid-19 in the last three days, according to a state government health official. In Jaipur, as many as 12 students of a private school tested positive, triggering worries among the parents.

"The girls have been isolated and special provisions have been made for their treatment. Their health condition is normal, while the educational institute has been shut for a week," Sister Petrica, headmistress of St Merry Girls' School, said. The infected students are studying in classes 8, 9 and 10, and they were tested for Covid-19 after a majority of them exhibited symptoms of cold and cough, she said.

The 22 MBBS studentshave been admitted to the Covid-19 hospital. Authorities suspect that the infection might have spread from the institute's annual function held recently.


While there has been a significant decline in the spread of the infection across Odisha, the sudden spurt in cases in the western districts of Sundargarh and Sambalpur is a cause of concern, health expert Dr Narayan Mishra said. More than 1.45 crore people have been fully vaccinated so far in Odisha.

Twelve students in Jaipur who tested positive belonged to Jaishree Periwal International School. A school official said that a student who had come from Mumbai had tested positive following which 185 students were tested, of which the reports of 12 have returned positive.