Suspension of the Academic and Extra-curricular activities as a preventive measure against COVID-19
March 13, 2020
As a part of preventive measures against the spread of COVID-19, the Institute has suspended all the Academic, Co-curricular and Extra-curricular activities. These include classes, Minors and other examinations, events, projects or any other activities which require the presence of students in the Institute's campus. The students pursuing B. Tech, Dual Degree, M. Sc., DIIT, M. Tech., M. Des., and MBA degrees as well as the first year Ph.D. students have been asked to leave the hostel by March 15, 2020 midnight and it is expected that they go straight to their home. Kindly note that there has not been any case of COVID-19 in the campus and this is only a preventive measure. Further instructions on the start of the academic activity, and when the students have to report back to the campus will be communicated through email and the Institute's webpage. Kindly keep checking the Institute's website for any other updates related to this matter.
Dean Academics and Dean Student Affairs IIT Delhi
Message from the Director, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
March 18, 2020
Thank you very much for your resilience and patience as we deal with the unprecedented crisis arising out of COVID-19 situation. As you know, the situation is rapidly evolving and we are taking further steps based on the advisory issued by the health ministry and other departments of Govt. of India.
We have had a comprehensive review today of steps taken by IIT Delhi to mitigate the COVID-19 situation, including our future strategy. Here are a few important decisions.
1. All remaining students (except international students and students with special needs) are requested to vacate the hostels at the earliest. With multiple flight and train cancellations taking place, it may not be possible for you to leave the campus after a few days. Hostels will function with skeleton staff and packed food will be provided for the remaining students. Married students and project staff living in flats, not dependent on the hostels for food, may however continue to stay. Faculty members are strictly discouraged from stopping the students from going home. All central laboratory facilities will be shut down during this period.
2. All staff members traveling from outside the campus for work (except staff in essential services) may be allowed to work from home. For this, please contact your immediate supervisor/PI for a permission. Essential services include house keeping staff, security, accounts, stores and audit, transport, hospital and IRD services, civil and electrical maintenance, water supply, internet and telephone services, hostel mess staff as per requirement of Dean of Student Affairs team.
3. All visitors' entry will be severely restricted and those visiting for valid reasons will be screened at entry points. Please avoid entertaining guests from outside during this time. Campus will operate in a partial lock down mode until March 31. Please ask your guests to cooperate with the security staff at the entry points. Basically, if you do not need to be on the campus, you should not be on the campus.
4. Institute will thus essentially function with staff and faculty residing within the campus. The goal will be to minimize disruption to the academic calendar and ensure that students will be able to complete their graduation requirements within the specified time. I solicit cooperation of all of you in this regard. Dean (Acad) team is putting in place a contingency plan for switching over to the online mode of instruction. You will receive further instructions from the Dean (Acad) team shortly.
Institute will be reviewing the situation from time to time and will take necessary steps as required. The above measures will be in force until March 31, 2020. Please cooperate.
Warm regards,
Prof. V. Ramgopal Rao Director,
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi-110 016, INDIA
IIT Delhi researchers develop cheap COVID-19 test
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology here have developed a method to detect COVID-19 which can significantly reduce the test cost, making it affordable for large sections.
The National Institute of Virology, Pune, is in the process of validating this test on clinical samples.
The team at IIT claimed that their test can be performed at a much cheaper cost. “Using comparative sequence analysis, we have identified unique regions in COVID-19. These unique regions are not present in other human coronaviruses providing an opportunity to specifically detect COVID-19,” said Professor Vivekanandan Perumal, lead member of the team. “Once the NIV validates the assay, it can be quickly scaled up to meet the increasing need in our country,” he added.
Sources:
https://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/coronavirus-iit-delhi-team-deve...
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/science/iit-delhi-researchers-...
https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/iit-delhi-researchers-develop-test-affor...
