Basyukta Basuprava

Bhubaneswar: Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Pradipta Mohapatra has stirred up an online storm by claiming that 25 students of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) at Burla were shown as COVID-19 positive earlier due to faulty coronavirus testing kits.

Students and Twitterati have been reacting sharply to Odisha Government’s account that no students of the varsity are positive because faulty kits were used for the COVID-19 test.

Several users have shared their misgivings about the statement and expressed their concern over the entire situation. “In such a technologically advanced age, faulty kits are such a dangerous act. Imagine the whole university's fear. The final days rendered in the hostel devastated due to false news. Hope that from next time onwards medical kits be taken seriously!,” wrote a user named Sukanya.

“What kind of testing kits are you supplying? That means all kits are wasted products. So those pupils who were tested negative through kits might be positive” wrote Subhalaxmi Murmu.

Some users also said that this situation can lead to panic among students and parents and the authorities should address the issue. “This is more dangerous than earlier..now there are two possibilities..either there are more positive than before or the positive aren't actually positive...Or they are just trying to hide stuff in these situations which can heavily backfire and lead to panic,” reacted Siddharth.

Another Twitterati, Saswat Das stressed the need of putting safety first in this dubious situation. He wrote, “Let's just put it this way: Even if we assume that all the kits were faulty, not being proven to be positive is *not* the same as being negative. Simple logic.”

Earlier, the COVID-19 outbreak news in VSSUT had triggered an alarm thereby forcing the district Sub-Collector and other administrative officials to review the situation at the VSSUT hostels and later on announcing hostels as containment zones.

The Sambalpur Municipal Corporation had also declared a shutdown in the university campus and its adjacent areas.

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