The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Monday advised students still remaining on campus to return to their hometowns, days after a pharmacist at its health centre tested positive for the disease. Although the university is taking all precautions as per the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Delhi Government from time to time, there is no safer place other than one's own home, the varsity said
"In the present scenario, the timing of re-opening of the academic institutions is uncertain and may get delayed till August 15. Therefore, given the fact that the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Delhi is increasing rapidly, all students who are stranded in the hostels are, hereby, strongly advised to return to their home at the earliest," a circular by Dean of Students Professor Sudheer Pratap Singh said. The hostel residents who have already left the university campus should not come back until the university is re-opened, it said.
JNU, on May 25, had strongly advised the students stranded in its hostels to return to their native places as special trains and some inter-state bus services have become operational following relaxations in the coronavirus-induced lockdown norms. On June 7, a pharmacist at JNU Health Centre had tested positive for COVID-19. This is the first reported instance of a COVID-19 patient inside the university.