After Losing 26 Professors To Covid-19, AMU Writes To ICMR To Study If Covid Variant Responsible

At least 44 people, including 26 professors have died at the Aligarh Muslim University after getting infected with the lethal novel coronavirus, within just 20 days, officials said, adding the new variant is suspected to have caused the deaths.

Tariq Mansoor, Vice-Chancellor of the AMU, has urged the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to investigate the samples taken from the varsity. His brother had also died of Covid-19.

He said that there is a possibility that "a particular variant may be circulating in areas around the AMU campus and surrounding localities, which has led to these deaths."

Among the 26 professors who have lost their lives to Covid-19 include 16 working and 10 retired faculty members. Officials said that samples have been collected from the university after the VC’s request. The samples have been sent to the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi for examination.

The AMU has written a letter to ICMR, asking for a genome study of the Covid samples as soon as possible. From this study, it can be found out whether a new variant of Covid-19 has spread in the university.

Prof. Mohammad Ali Khan, 60, of the Department of Post Harvest Engineering, Prof. Kazi Mohammad Jamshed, 55, of the Department of Political Science, Sajid Ali Khan, 63, professor of the Department of Psychology, Mohammed Irfan, 62, Chairman of the Museum Department, among others are among the deceased.

With IANS Inputs