Over 150 Monks Test Covid+ in Himachal, Gyuto Buddhist Monastery Declared Containment Zone Over 150 monks have tested positive f...

Over 150 Monks Test Covid+ in Himachal, Gyuto Buddhist Monastery Declared Containment Zone

Over 150 monks have tested positive for coronavirus at Gyuto Buddhist monastery near here and the area has been declared a containment zone, officials said on Tuesday. The COVID-19 cluster came to light last week when 20 cases were detected. Around 330 monks have been tested and 154 were found to be infected with the virus in the last eight days, Gurdarshan Gupta, the district’s Chief Medical Officer of Kangra district, said.

Investigation into the cluster at Gyato Monestary revealed that incident started at the monastery (Tibetan new year) festival on February 14. “About 15 monks came from Karnataka and Delhi. First cases were reported on February 23,” Kangra District Collectiir Rakesh Prajapati said. The infected monks, a majority of whom are reported to be asymptomatic, have no travel history and are being quarantined within the monastery compound.