11 Forest officers at IGNFA test positive for COVID-19

Eleven of the 48 Indian Forest Service officers, who had gone for a mid-career training programme to Lucknow from the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) here, tested positive for COVID-19 on their return, in yet another case of cluster infection.

Earlier, 66 students of a medical college tested positive for the infection in Karnataka, after which the authorities sealed two hostels of the institution on Thursday.

Eight of the officers tested positive on their way back in Delhi on November 19 and three more on November 24 after returning to Dehradun, District Surveillance Officer Rajeev Kumar Dikshit said on Friday.

The infected officers have been kept under isolation at the academy’s old hostel and the area has been converted into a containment zone, he said.

All infected officers were fully vaccinated and had only mild symptoms of COVID-19, Mr. Dikshit said.

The group, which returned to Dehradun via Delhi, had a smooth passage to Uttarakhand as COVID-19 norms had been relaxed in the State, with people coming from outside now exempted from the mandatory formality of producing a negative RT-PCR test report at the borders.

The first positive COVID-19 case in Uttarakhand had also been reported from the academy.

The official said COVID-19 cases may have gone down in recent months, but the threat of a possible third wave had not gone away.

‘So, people must not lower their guard. They must wear masks and maintain social distancing to stay safe,’ he said.

So far, the country has reported 3,45,55,431 cases. The virus has claimed 4,67,468 lives in the country, according to the latest data.