Greater Chennai Corporation has collected 6,344 samples for Covid-19 testing from colleges and hostels across the city till December 17, official data revealed.
Of these, only 210 have returned positive, while 3,773 have tested negative. Results of 2,361 are still awaited. All these positive cases were reported in the southern part of the city.

Adyar zone (13), which houses IIT Madras and Anna University, has 200 positive cases from this group.
Sources in the civic body said 195 people from IIT-M and five from Anna University have tested positive so far. All are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and have been admitted to a government hospital-managed Covid care centre.

Five samples from Valasaravakkam (zone 11) and three from Shollinganallur (zone 15) returned positive. However, a GCC official clarified that these were not recent, but were reported when random samples taken from two colleges in October and November had returned positive.

A senior official from University of Madras said people in Taramani and Guindy hostels had been tested and no positive case came up.

Apart from the five, there were no other positive cases in Anna University hostels so far, a senior varsity official said.

All college and university hostels have been asked to send food directly to the students to avoid crowding in messes. University hostels have already begun implementing this.

According to the coporation official, the IIT-M cluster has come to a saturation point. “Most samples are now testing negative,” the official said.
The cases would also serve as a warning to students across the city and state, highlighting the need to maintain precautions like physical distancing and masking, the official added.

As on Thursday, Adyar zone had the highest number of active cases in the city at 438. It was followed by Anna Nagar with 378 active cases. Thiruvottiyur (56), Manali (53) and Shollinganallur (67) have cases in double digits.