Corona Virus and IIT Kanpur

COVID-19 or Corona Virus has created a ruckus all over the world with its far stretched reach impacting India and our campus. This is also a bulletin for all news related to Corona Virus and it’s possible implications on IIT Kanpur. Please keep checking the page for more updates related to the issue.

Until Monday, Kanpur had witnessed 3 suspected cases out of which one woman belongs to Kalyanpur as stated by Mr. Ashok Shukla, the Chief Medical Officer of Kanpur (as of Monday). Naturally, it has created a state of stress in our campus, as in the previous 3-4 days, 8 students returned to the city from countries like Belgium, Germany, Brazil, Thailand, and Singapore, although no symptoms of the virus have been witnessed in the suspects, the Medical Health team of the city are having a close watch on them.

With mid-sem break coming to a close soon, students from different parts of India would be coming to the campus, making the situation more vulnerable. One of our correspondents enquired Dr. Mamta Vyas, Head HC IIT Kanpur, regarding this on Monday.

What is the current state of diagnosis equipment in HC and Kanpur city in general?

Currently, HC IIT Kanpur or Kanpur City does not have the equipment to diagnose the disease, only a handful of GOI centers exist across the nation for such diagnosis. Although samples can be sent to these centers after obtaining the required permissions from the District Collector. 

Soon, a lot of students would be coming back home from different parts of the country. Are there any plans for screening, as students arrive post-mid sem break?

Since GOI does not have any directives or guidelines for domestic travel as of now, we do not have a plan for the influx of students post-mid sem break. We would be discussing this with the Institute Administration as soon as possible.

The Institute administration has been active in coming up with the minimal measures that can prevent the pandemic. The Dean of Academic Affairs recently circulated a mail which announced the adoption of the following measures:-

1. Biometric attendance facilities for the UG students in LHC and PG students in all the departments have been suspended until further notice, the PG students have been advised to mark their attendance manually in registers maintained by their department.

2. Institute travel support to Ph.D. students for conferences abroad is being suspended until further notice. 

A short mail was also circulated by HC on Thursday where campus residents were asked to inform if they had undertaken any official/personal travel outside India, in the last thirty days.

They had also issued some basic protective measures against coronavirus, from the official page of IIT Kanpur:-

1. Hands must be washed regularly with an alcohol-based rub or soap and water as it helps in killing viruses present on the hands.
2. Distance of around 1m must be maintained from a person coughing or sneezing.
3. Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth constantly.
4. Practice respiratory hygiene which basically means to cover one’s mouth and nose while sneezing.
5. If feeling fever, cough and having difficulty breathing, get medical assistance as quickly as possible. 

For more information regarding the virus, prevention, and popular myths, please visit: https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

Note:- The figures noted above have been used from sources such as News18 and Dainik Jagran Kanpur.

Credits: Darshana Singh, Milind Nigam.

Design and Illustrations: Raj Varshith Moora