Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT-M) has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot with about 71 cases reported till date and a few more expected to turn positive.

The students allege the IIT-M’s decision to run only one mess is the reason for the large scale spread of coronavirus. In the mess, one cannot be wearing a mask and a congregation of a good number of persons in the mess is the ripe cause for disaster.

A total of 774 students are on the campus and most of those who were infected were residents of two hostels — Krishna and Jamuna.

On its part, IIT-M has decided to shut down all its departments, centres and asked their staff to work from home and anyone with the symptoms like fever, dry cough, sore throat, diarrhoea, loss of taste/smell, or any other symptoms have been requested to get in touch with the hospital officials.