LU defers exams after 50 inmates from 3 hostels test Covid positive – Times of India

As many as 32 students from Habibullah Boys’ hostel, 10 from Mahmudabad Boys’ hostel and eight from Lal Bahadur Shastri Boys’ hostel shared their Covid-19 positive reports with TOI on Thursday.

An MSc student, residing in Nivedita Girls’ hostel, also tested positive. She later left the hostel with her guardian. The remaining students also got tested and reports are awaited.
After the outbreak on the campus, Lucknow University Associated College Teachers’ Association also threatened to boycott examinations in view of rise in cases.

LU spokesperson Durgesh Srivastava said, “University has deferred examination. It will re-schedule all the examinations between January 15 and 31. The next examination schedule will be announced shortly.”

Earlier, three students, two from Mahmudabad and one from Habibullah hostel, tested positive after which RT-PCR test of all the inmates was done by the health officials from the CMO office.

While several students left the hostels, those whose examinations were scheduled stayed back.

“There are 149 students in my hostel and only 40 first-year students left as their examinations are scheduled next month but we don’t have this luxury,” said BSc student Ayush Pathak, a resident of Habibullah hostel.

“I gave my zoology practical examination today in which following social distancing was impossible as 32 students were in the same hall, using the same apparatus,” said Pathak.

Another student, Aryan Mishra said, “This situation could have been avoided by postponing examination.”

Students alleged that negligence of the university administration was the reason behind the spurt in Covid-19 cases on the campus.

LU chief provost Nalini Pandey said, “We will quarantine all infected students in the hostel itself. They will be given food in disposables while those who want to go home will be permitted to leave if their guardians come to pick them up and their condition is not serious.”

“We can’t take the risk of allowing students from Uttarakhand or far-flung places to travel in such conditions. They are not just students but our children too and due care will be taken,” she said.

Earlier, Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) had also announced to defer the examination after Covid cases were reported on the campus.