Two students of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR), who were earlier tested positive for Covid-19, have been found infected with Delta variant of Sars-Cov-2, informed Dean Prof. Jayashree Dora on Tuesday.
A total of 21 swab samples of the positive students were earlier sent for genome sequencing to the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) in Bhubaneswar. The reports of 11 samples were received by the VIMSAR today, said reports.
While two of the samples were found infected with Delta variant, the other nine are a normal variant of Delta which is not much fatal, added reports.
“We had sent the swab samples to establish the exact variants. While two of the samples have been infected with the existing Delta, the rest of the virus samples are minor variants of Delta. There is no new variant in the sample,” informed Dora.
VIMSAR director Lalit Meher had earlier said that around 700 samples have been collected for Covid-19 test and they are receiving the reports in phases.
Earlier on November 20, at least 10 students of VIMSAR were tested positive for the virus which took the Covid-19 tally to 74 in the medical college.
Initially, a total of 22 students of the institute were found infected with the virus. It is being suspected that the recently-held annual function UTKARASH-2021 had led to the Covid-19 spread in VIMSAR.
In order to prevent further transmission of the virus, the Sambalpur District Administration had also declared several hostels and staff quarters at VIMSAR as micro containment and buffer zones.