A dean, mess steward and security staff are reportedly among the staff who have tested positive.
At least 13 students and four staff members of Delhi University's St. Stephen's College tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, leading to enforcement of stringent COVID-19 protocols on the campus and questions on whether a college trip held recently was behind the infections.
Those who contracted the infection were part of a "chapel trip" of 25 students to Dalhousie. The students were tested after some of them developed symptoms of the disease after they returned on March 31.
A dean, mess steward and security staff are reportedly among the staff who have tested positive.
The Principal has now put out a notice and has asked all faculty members who are scheduled to come to college to stay at home till further notice. Isolation rules have been put in place for hostellers.
The development has prompted a member of the college governing body to raise questions on the matter, including whether permission for the trip was taken from the university and the Delhi government for organising the trip.
"In light of reports coming in from students, non-teaching faculty and some officials, I would like the following information from you. Have some college students living in the college hostel tested positive for Covid after April 1, 2021? Is it true that the Dean of Residence cum the College Chaplain has also tested positive for Covid after April 1, 2021? Is it true that these two officials had accompanied a large group of hostel students on a trip to Dalhousie in the last week of March 2021? Why was this trip organized by the college officials in the times of Covid pandemic? Was the trip authorized by the Principal? Was the consent of the parents of the students taken for going on this this trip," were among the questions raised by Nandita Narain, St.Stephen's College Governing Body member in her letter to the Principal.
Delhi has been witnessing a worrying spike in coronavirus cases.
On Friday, the city recorded 3,594 fresh cases, its highest daily count this year. Fourteen virus-related fatalities were also reported during the period, taking the total number of death to 11,050. The positivity rate in the national capital also mounted to 4.11 from 3.57 per cent a day before, amid a massive surge in cases in the span of the last few weeks.
Delhi is among the 11 states and union territories which accounts for over 90 per cent of the cases and deaths in the country, the government has said.
Apart from the national capital, Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Haryana have been witnessing a worrying spike in cases. The situation in these states and UTs is of "grave concern", Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba told senior state/UT and police officials during a review meeting on Friday night.
This morning, India added 89,129 new coronavirus infections - its biggest one-day jump since late September - to take the total tally to over 1.23 crore. 714 deaths were also reported in the last 24 hours, the highest since October 21 when 717 fatalities were reported. Of these, 481 deaths were reported from Maharashtra.