Gujarat National Law University sees 25 Covid cases, shuts down offline education

After the third wave ebbed in January, Covid reared its head again as Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) recorded 25 new cases of the infection in the two days ending Friday morning.

This is one of the first instances of Covid cases in double digits at an educational campus recently. Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation (GMC) officials visited the campus on Friday and instructed the authorities to shut down in-person education. Students were also asked not to venture out of their hostel rooms.

To put the figure into perspective, Gujarat recorded eight new Covid cases, taking the number of active cases in the state to 73 on Thursday. These numbers rose to 20 and 86, respectively, on Friday. While no other educational institute has recorded Covid cases, GMC sources said a drive will be launched at campuses in a phase-wise manner.

Dr Jagadeesh Chandra TG, in-charge registrar of GNLU, told TOI that Fresher's Week was being held at the university for the past few days. "As soon as the first Covid cases became known, the celebration was suspended. From Monday onwards, all classes will again be held online. End-semester exams in May will be conducted on schedule, but in online mode," he said.

Sources privy to the development said the university started full-fledged in-person classes only five days ago.

On a positive note, none of the infected students complained of severe symptoms or needed hospitalization.