COVID-19 Updates and Institute Actions: Restrictions Lifted

Tracking article updates for latest information
– 8th March added information about campus reopening
– 6th February added information about mass testing
– 31st January added information about mass testing and sports facilities
– 22nd January added information about campus return and situation in Spring 2022
– 27th December added information about events in Monsoon 2020
– 28th August added information about positive COVID-19 tests on campus
– 31st July 9:03 PM added Monsoon 2020 grading scheme
– 10th July 11:35 PM added information on quarantine centres in campus
– 3rd July added information about Spring 2021 and plans for Monsoon 2021
– 14th May added information about the post lockdown operations of the college
– 12th May added information about the community kitchen
– 11th April 7:20 PM added new academic plan and information about community kitchen
– 2nd April 1:00 PM added information about national lockdown and director’s message
– 22nd March 11:00 PM added information about Telangana lockdown
– 21st March 9:19 PM to mention that IIIT Student tests negative for COVID-19
– 21st March 8:04 PM general city update on people evading scans at the Airport.
– 21st March 6:18 PM added information on Institute Lockdown
– 20th March 10:30 PM added information on attendance
– 20th March 9:40 PM added information on online classes
– 19th March 5:40 PM added notice by Academic Office
– 19th March 4:50 PM added information about further mess closures and restricted Main Gate access and screenings
– 17th March 11:30 PM added information about restricted library access
– 17th March 1:26 PM added information about Gachibowli stadium, sanitizer provision, and mess closures
– 14th March 11:50 PM added information on mess cancellations
– 14th March 7:55 PM to correct an erroneous summarisation of a notification
– 14th March 6:00 PM to reflect recent developments

This article is meant to be a live document, tracking major events related to the outbreak in the city, and preventive measures taken by the Institute in response. This includes advisories circulated, pertinent responses to advisories, and wholesale decisions.

March 8, 2021:

It was announced that from March 24th, support for online classes would be discontinued. As a consequence, all students who have left campus are expected to return at the earliest.

March 7, 2021:

The quarantining policy was revised for students arriving on campus from home; they would only be required to spend 72 hours as a “cool-off period” in their own rooms (without access to messes), provided they have taken a negative RTPCR not more than 72 hours prior to arrival.
The results of the testing drive conducted on March 4th revealed no positive cases (out of 70 samples taken from students).

March 2, 2021:

The campus entry-exit policy was revised to allow residents to leave and return at any time between 0600h and 0000h.
Furthermore, the delivery policy was updated to make no distinction between food and other deliveries, all of which would now be allowed up to hostel gates (between 0600h and 2300h). Deliveries beyond this time range would have to be collected from the main gate.
It was also announced that all hostel residents would be required to check their temperatures twice a week.

February 12, 2021:

It was announced that the current hybrid model of teaching would continue for the next two weeks.

February 6, 2021:

The plan for classes for the week of February 7th was announced. Faculty would be expected to teach from the lecture hall, using screenshare to record to the class. Students would have the option to attend offline or online.
In the case of multiplexed classes, students would be allowed to attend offline only on the days when their group was scheduled for offline class, as announced in January.

February 5, 2021:

The results of the mass testing drive conducted on 4th February were announced. Out of 118 students who participated (some voluntarily and some called beforehand), 33 tested positive. However, some reports had not yet arrived, according to the Student Parliament’s mail.

January 30, 2021:

It was announced that the outdoor sports facilities would be reopened from 31st January and that the indoor sports facilities would be opened on 7th February.

January 29, 2021:

In response to low participation in mass testing (72 students participated on 27th), pooled mass testing was “suspended indefinitely”. The results were also announced – 9 out of 72 students had a “high virus load”, along with 3 out of 114 campus staff.

January 21, 2021:

Prof. Prabhakar announced that the testing that was done on 19th January was “pooled testing” (specifically a method called “tapestry pooling”), and explained the details of this method developed jointly by IIT Bombay, NCBS Bangalore and inStem Bangalore.

14 samples were identified as positive and 5 as “likely positive”, out of 350 tests.

For the first time, however, the names of the positive cases were not disclosed, citing lack of clearance by the Institute Ethics Committee.

January 20, 2022:

The Mess committee, in consultation with Messcomm, announced revised mess plans in light of the COVID-19 escalation on campus:

• Students are now encouraged to use personal utensils (provided by the mess on request) and return to their rooms to eat. 
• In-person dining continues to be available but at a limited capacity.
• Menu changes are anticipated to reduce the load on the mess stuff, more details to be announced later.

January 19, 2022:

Mass testing, the largest scale so far at IIIT, was conducted, in collaboration with IIT Jodhpur. Around 250 primary contacts of the students who tested positive yesterday were tested. Apart from this, random testing from each wing of all hostels as well as free voluntary testing was made available, totalling to around 700 students.

The Student Parliament began sending out mails with the subject line “Ink Analysis of Situation till date”, containing a detailed (though not all would say unbiased) narrative of the COVID situation from mid-November, until today, organised into five chapters.

Note: The trickle of mails from indignant students strengthened with this series. The Parliament mails, but not the students’ mails, have been responded to by Prof. Prabhakar Bhimalapuram and Prof. Shatrunjay Rawat (as of 20th January).

January 17, 2022:

Four of the primary contacts tested positive, and their primary contacts were in turn identified and isolated.

January 16, 2022:

The primary contacts’ tests from the previous day were carried out.

Professor PJN informed the student body via mail that the institute intended to “ride it out”,  in view of the benefits of in-person classes. Further, he announced that the campus was prepared with more room for isolation and had started voluntary and weekly testing and screening.

However, he also mentioned that “if any individual feels excessively worried or concerned for any reason, s/he can leave the campus to return home,” and make use of the recordings of the in-person classes.

January 15, 2022:

A student in the regular hostel tested positive and their primary contacts (numbering over 20) were identified and quarantined.

January 08, 2022:

Classes with more than 100 attendees were announced to be online for the second week of Spring ‘22 as well. For classes with 60-100 attendees, it was recommended to conduct classes online, but the matter was left to the discretion of the faculty. For classes with under 60 attendees, it was announced that not all would go offline, but most were intended to.

January 04, 2022:

The hospitalised student and all his primary contacts tested negative.

It was announced that classes would start offline from Monday, January 10th.

January 02, 2022:

• The attendance policy was suspended until further notice, following student outrage. The reason cited was “to alleviate some concerns w.r.t. In-person classes”. 
• A student was hospitalised and was suspected to have contracted COVID (based on the results of a CT scan). His primary contacts (identified on a voluntary basis) were quarantined and tested.
• Classes for the rest of the week were made online. Sports credits were also suspended for the week. 

December 31, 2021:

The attendance policy for the Spring ‘22 semester was published. Some of its salient points were:

• Attendance is compulsory, with grades bottoming out at D for attendance between 65% and 85%. Below 65%, an F grade is given.
• Attendance is not recorded for students attending online.
• The Responsible Student Attendance Option (RSAO) can be given to the students according to the discretion of the course instructor. If a student opts for this, they are not penalised for attendance, but any grade under B- is treated as an F. It is not mandatory for the course instructor to provide this option.

December 28, 2021:

Guidelines for classes in the Spring ‘22 semester were announced. Apart from the typical classrooms, other public spaces such as KRB auditorium were converted to classrooms. This was done to ensure maximum social distancing, limiting room capacity.

It was also clarified that all classes would be recorded using Teams. This is to be done by using students’ mobile phones (four mobile phones taken from selected students) mounted on tripod stands, that record the instructor.

December 23, 2021:

The Covid Task Force (CTF) was constituted, comprising Prof. Pradeep Kumar R (Registrar) as Chair, Dr. Prabhakar Bhimalapuram, Prof. Shatrunjay Rawat, and Mr. Ramana VV among faculty members, and Praneetha Gokul, Madhukar Dwivedi, and Pradeep Pal as student members. Its purview was declared to include all Covid-related issues, including but not limited to quarantining, testing, vaccination, insurance, campus entry/exit, and classrooms.

December 15, 2021:

North Mess resumed operations, in view of the near-full capacity that campus was approaching. The tea stall attached to Vindhya Bakery restarted operations.

November 19, 2021:

In a mail from the director, the institute announced a plan to call the remaining students back to campus. It was phased, starting from 24th November (with students who chose to come early) at intervals of one week, with Bakul and Parijaat being used as quarantine blocks. UG4 was to arrive by 30th December, prior to classes starting on 3rd January.

October 03, 2021:

All UG2 ECE and ECD students reached campus. Normal labs and theory classes resumed as planned, along with sports credits.

September 16, 2021:

UG2 ECE and ECD (including LE) students were called back for the second half of 2-1, which was preceded by the return of MTech CASE students in August. They were instructed to report to campus on 2nd or 3rd October.

July 3, 2021: 

• Director PJN addressed the students through an email announcing the reopening of the campus. He strongly recommended the students get vaccinated and follow all safety measures once they return to campus.
• A follow up mail from Prof. Prabhakar mentioned that they are planning a phased approach to reopen the campus, by calling back research students and staff members first followed by others. The institute has made it mandatory for a student to get vaccinated before going to campus and gives priority to those who got both shots of the vaccine.

July 2, 2021:  

The institute allowed campus residents to order food through online delivery services on the Saturday of that week, and every Thursday starting from the following week.

June 15, 2021:

There was a vaccine drive at Arogya Health Clinic on campus. Everyone residing on campus and others living in Hyderabad, including their families, was invited to get vaccinated. The drive had participation of approximately 410 individuals, and volunteers included both students and staff members. 

June 14, 2021:

Library reopened for all faculty, research scholars, students and staff on campus. Only lending services are being provided since the reading room is not open for use presently. A request for a particular book can be made by sending an email before 12 noon, and the book can be collected the same day. 

June 1, 2021:

The sports committee opened a few outdoor games. Games like Basketball, Badminton, Cricket, Football, Hockey, Lawn Tennis and Volleyball were open while Pool Tables, Table Tennis, Carroms and Chess were not. Timings were 6:30-8:30 in the morning and 5:00 – 7:00 in the evening.

May 26, 2021: Yuktahaar reopened on a trial basis.

May 6 – May 25, 2021:

As per the last screening, six hostel residents tested positive. The institute provided masks, sanitiser, face shields and wipes to some students on the campus. No new cases emerged in the rounds of tests done on May 11, May 16 and May 23, 2021.

May 5, 2021: 

Since the academic semester was over and the situation was getting worse in Hyderabad, the institute came up with a plan to vacate hostels. All non-research students were requested to leave, and those pursuing research were allowed to stay depending on hardware requirements.

May 3, 2021:

Guest House tea stall and Vindhya canteen services were closed for a couple of weeks on account of rising cases.

April 29 – April 30, 2021:

JC was closed. Amid the rumours of lockdown, students were requested to vacate hostels. Also, an open house meeting was conducted on teams. Food delivery services were suspended. Amazon and Big Basket were allowed while Dunzo wasn’t.

April 27,2021 – present:

Sriharsha Karamchati, a IIIT-H alumnus, came up with the idea of a Covid War Room (CWR) to aid COVID-19 patients and their families. The CWR maintains a database of resources and their availability to provide hospital beds, ventilators, oxygen support devices, medicines etc., on requests. The team of volunteers also includes around 250 IIIT-H students and alumni. By June 10, 2021, the team processed 1107 requests and arranged more than Rs. 40 Lakhs for financial aid. For a detailed article on CWR, refer to this.

April 26 – April 29, 2021:

More hostel residents tested positive. Mr Manikiran, a CIE manager, and Mr B. Krishna, a non-campus resident worker, passed away due to COVID-19.

April 19, 2021: Yuktahaar food counter service started on a trial basis.

April 10, 2021:

Yuktahaar mess dining hall was closed, and Yuktahaar food was provided in the buffet area of Kadamb mess.

April 6, 2021:

More individuals tested positive in screening done on April 5, 2021. Authorities were tracing contacts to run more tests.

April 3, 2021:

(10:00) All hostel residents were supposed to stay in self-quarantine in their respective rooms. They were allowed to pick up orders and food from JC. To avoid contact amongst students, dining hall services were shut, and buffet outlets were arranged from where students could fetch food to their rooms.

April 1, 2021: 

• There were seven active cases on campus. Thus another round of screening was done through contact tracing, which resulted in few more positive cases.
• Director addressed the hostel residents through an email about the situation, urging them to be cautious till conditions improve.
• Students were denied to go out, and day scholars were not allowed on the campus for the next two weeks.
• Vindhya Canteen closed for 14 days.
• A revised set of gym guidelines were released. Along with some common safety measures, a slot system was introduced to maintain social distancing. There were three one-hour long slots in the morning (6:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.) and four in the evening (4:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.). Only 8 people were allowed in each slot to maintain distance.

March 31, 2021:

An open house session was organised on Microsoft Teams to give an update about the new COVID-19 guidelines to the campus residents and address their concerns.

March 29 – March 30, 2021:

More residents tested positive in the screening conducted on March 28, 2021. Residents were asked to install the GoCoronaGo app to make it easy to trace contacts with others. 

March 24, 2021:

In the screening done on March 22, 2021 (372 participants), four individuals were tested COVID positive. This was the first time when one hostel-resident student was tested positive.

March 4, 2021:

In the screening done on March 1, 2021 (332 people participated), five people were confirmed to be COVID positive but none of them was a campus resident.

Feb 26th, 2021:

IIIT implements plans to resume regular functioning as the pandemic sees no near end. This includes bringing back more students to campus, with a 14-day quarantine period for all students. Faculty and students are also free to visit the academic and research blocks, with staff required to visit six days a week.

As a result, the institute started weekly COVID-19 RT-PCR tests via group pooling. For more details about precautions and policies implemented, refer to this.

February 21 – February 28, 2021:

Felicity started off in an entirely online mode. Except for UG-1, all others had a break from academics for a week. There were pre-felicity events followed by felicity from Feb 25 – Feb 27 and post-felicity events. For those on campus, night cricket and dodgeball were organised. 

February 3, 2021:

CHMC organised the first campus-wide screening for COVID-19. This was organised jointly with Prof. Manoj Gopalakrishnan (IIT Bombay) and Dr Kartik Tallapaka (CMB, Hyderabad).

February 2, 2021:

An open house discussion meet was organised on Microsoft Teams to facilitate the discussion of having social interactions on campus while following all the safety measures.

February 1, 2021:

Yuktahaar reopened. Since the number of students on campus was less, they reopened on a trial basis with a simplified menu. Seating arrangements were modified to ensure social distancing. 

December 21st:

• In a mail to research students (MS, PhD, 5th Year Dual Degrees), the director Prof. PJN strongly advised a return to campus for the Spring 2021 semester. Per the mail, the campus is prepared to accommodate 300-350 students safely, with adequate quarantine facilities. More details on the exact procedure are expected to be shared soon.
• About 4-5 months into the lockdown, around July, residents of Parijaat B and C were asked to vacate their rooms to repurpose them into quarantine areas. More recently, even residents of Parijaat Block A (Students of UG 2 to 4) were asked to vacate in an email from the hostel manager on 18th December. Following complaints from students (many of whom do not reside in Hyderabad currently), the authorities informed through follow up emails on the 21st and 22nd of December that they require at least 6 rooms per floor to be vacated. Students now hope that their locally residing peers could help them, as it would be more convenient for them to collect their belongings from campus, while others would have to have them collected by movers and packers.

December 18th:

Dean Academics announces the new assessment plan for Spring 2021 – also slated to be conducted in an online fashion. 

• Only A, B, C, D, and F grades will be awarded for courses and projects
• There is no option to mask grades via a P option.
• Two dedicated quiz slots have been created for conducting examinations, unlike the previous semester where evaluations were scheduled at the professor’s discretion.
• Similar to the Monsoon semester, attendance policy will not be applied on course grades.

August-December: 

There were a few more COVID-19 cases on campus. Most of these were caught during the quarantine period itself and necessary precautions were taken. 

November 16th:

The second batch of UG1 join – comprising JEE and UGEE Round Three admits. More information about the induction and batch strength can be found here. This is also the first time IIIT has taken in students via the Diversity Pool, raising the number of girls in the batch to a record high.

November 10-13th:

The Dean Academics announces a revised Spring 2020 plan – with three terms. This move was due to complaints of increased academic pressure. This plan was then changed due to complaints from the student body, collected by the Parliament via a feedback form. The revised plan is a regular Spring semester with a mid-semester break in between – with a potential Virtual Felicity conducted during this period.

October: 

Students graduating in 2020 were exempted from vacating their hostels in light of the pandemic. This follows an initial order to clear rooms, without which no-dues certificates weren’t issued. An entire timeline of these discussions can be found here.

September 14th:

The pandemic has forced the second session of the JEE Main to take place in September instead of the initially planned April session. The Non-JEE admissions were delayed too, taking place much later than normal, in August. This ‘Non-JEE’ medium of admission includes the UGEE, DASA, SPEC, Olympiad/KVPY modes. The JEE Main was conducted between the 1st – 6th of September, with the JEE Advanced taking place on the 27th of September. Hence, IIIT has decided to accept new students in two different sections – with the non-JEE students starting coursework by 14th September. More detailed plans for the split batch of freshmen can be found here.

September 10th:

The student parliament requests students to report COVID-19 incidences and other problems to the CHMC and Apex response team. Students are entitled to medical leaves, academic relaxations and medical reimbursements.

August 27th:

A member of the finance office and housekeeping staff have tested positive for COVID-19, while an immediate relative of a server room staff member has also tested positive. The institute issued work at home orders to relevant parties while making attempts to contact trace individuals. The mail sent to campus residents also indicates that all security and housekeeping personnel are being tested as well.

July 31st:

(18:03) The Dean Academics announced a new grading policy for the monsoon semester. As per the mail sent, there will be no centrally organized examination. Instructors may decide their own assessment plan. There is no attendance policy for grading this semester as well. Further, in a departure from Spring’s grading scheme, only A/B/C/D/F grades will be awarded for all courses including Semester/Honours/BTP/Independent Study projects.

July 10th:

On the 10th of July, a Facebook post on Life@IIITH stated that the B and C blocks of the New Parijat girls hostel would be converted into quarantine centres. This was after the CHMC and their medical advisors identified these blocks as optimal quarantine zones. Consequently, students who used to occupy rooms in these hostels were asked to vacate their belongings.
The hostel authorities including the warden, caretaker and hostel representatives assured the students that their belongings would not be harmed, and proper procedures would be followed, i.e., the students could supervise the packing over video calls.

After some interactions, the first year MTech Students stood by their decision of not getting their rooms vacated and the hostel authorities respectfully agreed. On the other hand, the MTech final year students have agreed as they would be graduating this year and would have to vacate their hostels either ways. The C block has been evacuated and the evacuation for the B block is in progress.

July 3rd:

(20:00) The Dean (Academics) announced that the Monsoon semester would be online due to the prevalence of COVID-19. Classes are to be held from August 10th to the end of November. The Institute also decided against raising the Academic fee for the year in view of the economic downturn. More information can be found here.

24th June:
IIIT conducted the UGEE for prospective freshers after delays due to COVID-19. The exam was conducted in spite of lockdowns in various parts of the country. We cover the problems and backlash with the exam in this article. This move has been critiqued by students and officials alike though considering the proximity of test centres to various hotspots.

26th May:

On 26th May 2020, the Director sent a mail outlining IIIT’s policy for refunds in lieu of the pandemic and mid-semester disruption in Spring 2020. It confirmed that the institute was still paying all employees including workers in the mess and hostels. Most of the mess and hostel fees are expected to be refunded or adjusted against future dues. More information can be found here.

20th May:

“The UGEE, SPEC and LEEE exams have been rescheduled to 24^th June 2020. The portal will be reopened in the first week of June to allow applicants to make any change to their exam centre preferences.” as per the Undergraduate Admissions website of IIIT.

14th May:

A mail regarding the post lockdown operations of the college was sent out by.?. The highlights of the mail are as follows:

• The institute requested that all the students stay at home and not come to campus till given an explicit notice. Post lockdown, the following notices were given:
  • The faculty and staff members consider working from home as their primary work mode. A couple of reasons for the above were cited; they included the difficulty in running the mess and housekeeping services.
  • Students who want to enter the campus to collect essentials from their hostel rooms were to get permission from the Hostel Incharge and the Hostel Manager after filling out a google form specifying the date, time, and reason for the visit.
  • Students still staying on campus were advised to leave as soon as it became safe to travel home.
• Plans are underway to get most of the graduation processes for the passing out batch online. Once again, it was advised that these people remain at home and not plan a visit to campus.
• If need be, research students and project staff who want to occupy hostel rooms will have to undergo a 2-week quarantine in a hostel. If a student tests positive for the coronavirus then the housing situation for the student in question is dependent on the Telangana State COVID-19 protocols.

12th May:

The community kitchen incentive was suspended following the mess workers leaving for home. Between the 1st of April and the 9th of May, 12,895 packets of food were distributed to stranded migrant workers. The community kitchen is said to be operational again once the working of the mess is stabilised.

11th April:

(early morning) The official IIIT blog covered the response to the situation from the institute’s side, seen in the newly established community kitchen for stranded migrant workers.

8th April:

(6:54) The academic office announces a special consideration form for those facing internet difficulties. After filling a form on IMS, students may be considered for alternate types of assessment. This comes after a survey was conducted to understand the internet troubles faced by students. It should be noted that the dean academics has been personally contacting concerned students to resolve concerns on this front as well.

(23:58) Professor Aniket Alam sends an update on the community kitchen run at IIIT for stranded migrant workers with volunteers from the Telangana Social Initiative Group. With over 38 volunteers, 2500+ packets have been distributed to struggling communities.

6th April:

(12:35) The Dean Academics announced a detailed revised grading scheme for the remaining semester in lieu of the existing system. The updated course assessment policy may be found here. Here are some key takeaways:

1. No course shall be pushed for the summer or continue in the following semester. IIIT intends to end the semester online near the original spring timetable date.There may be exceptions to this for lab components of courses – with students being made to return two weeks prior to the monsoon semester.
2. Flexibility in grading: There is no fail grade in any ongoing course. Students have the option to withdraw a course or mark the course as passed (P*) in their transcript. More details about the differentiation in grading for full and half courses may be viewed in the above mentioned PDF.
3. End Semester exams have been cancelled – to be replaced with short quizzes,  assignments, and projects that may be done remotely over a period of time.
4. Attendance will not be considered for courses that are currently ongoing.
5. Grading for honours, Independent Study, and BTP are unchanged with revised deliverables set by the supervisor.

31st March:

(10:14) In his message on the IIIT blog, the Director expressed his intention to conclude the current semester via the online mode. It is notable that the average attendance for the first week of the online classes was 82%.

30th March:

(10:54) Following the lockdown orders issued by the Prime Minister and the postponement of several board and entrance exams, the dates for the UGEE, SPEC and LEEE exams would be finalised by the institute on the 10th of April, after reviewing the situation.

22nd March:

(20:22) Telangana state lockdown order was issued by CM KCR, as a result of which all non-essential businesses will be completely shut down, state borders will be closed down, and public transport will be majorly curtailed. International arrivals have also been suspended.

“The chief minister also announced free of cost 12 kg rice per person for nearly 90 lakh below poverty line (BPL) ration cardholders. In all, 3.36 lakh tonnes of rice costing Rs 1,103 crore would be supplied to the poor people, since they would be losing their livelihood during the lockdown period.”

(Source: Hindustan Times)

Dr Prabhakar Bhimalapuram sent an email to the research mailing list, allowing students who are unable to leave due to the lockdown to stay on campus. He further stated that Aarogya will remain open. 

In a reply to the email, Dr Radhika Mamidi said that the institute would try to make arrangements for transportation to the airport for those who may be leaving via domestic flights.

21st March:

(20:36) The COVID-19 test of the suspected student came out negative, and the student was discharged immediately. Following this incident, the Institute Apex Committee asked all students, including research students and project interns, to leave hostels and go home by the evening of Wednesday 25th March 2020. The email (sent to the ‘research’ email list) also advised students to maintain precautions during travel. Dr Prabhakar Bhimalapuram also asked those students who cannot leave for home to personally speak with him. 

Additionally, all research buildings, library, stalls and canteens were to remain closed for students. If any student needed to collect any items from research buildings, they would need to make arrangements with their faculty advisor. 

The restriction regarding movement in and out of campus stayed in place, except for those leaving for home. This restriction has been in place since 19th March 2020.

(19:53) < General city update > The Times of India reported earlier today that many passengers on a flight from London to Hyderabad through Mumbai that also carried a suspected COVID-19 patient “had taken paracetamol before landing in Hyderabad to lower their body temperature and escape checks at the airport.”

(15:11) Due to the lockdown on campus, it was found that hostel buildings have been locked from the inside to restrict student movement outside hostels. Parijaat had a padlock on its gate, and OBH had a latch on. 

(00:20) Upon finding out that despite the lockdown due to suspected infection, students were still trying to leave for home, Dr Prabhakar Bhimalapuram sent the following email:

“If students leave during these restrictions in the situation of national medical emergency, I will initiate strict Institutional action on all such students including terminating their student status immediately. 

Please cancel your travel plans while the restriction and self-isolation period is on. I understand the inconvenience, keep in mind the level of danger you are placing your family in by returning before the campus situation becomes clear.”

Students were barred from leaving their respective hostel buildings, and the wardens and caretakers started tracking students, to establish contact history with the suspected student case. Dr Prabhakar further clarified in an email to a UG5 student that no visitors, including parents will be allowed into the campus.

20th March:

(22:17) In response to a UG2 student who raised concerns, the Dean (A) confirmed that there would be no attendance for the online classes. An official announcement is yet to be made regarding this.

(17:03 – added on 21st March) Following a suspected case in one of the college hostels, the Institute immediately put into action measures to restrict potential further spread of the virus. Dr Prabhakar Bhimalapuram issued the following advisory for on campus research students. 

1. All students on campus are advised to report to Arogya if they have any signs of fever, cough, respiratory distress, etc.
2. As an extreme precautionary measure, all students currently on campus are strongly advised against leaving the campus until this case is cleared.
3. All students are strongly advised to practice isolation or at least strict social distancing. 

All academic spaces, research spaces and the library will be closed for students (this means that Vindhyas, Himalayas, KRB, Nilgiri, T-Hub, CIE); all canteens and stalls will shutdown tentatively till coming Tuesday.

Furthermore, students were allowed to have meals only in respective hostel messes, while food will be cooked in Kadamba kitchen and transported to respective messes. 

This was to be exercised pending the results from the student. 

This also created some panic among research students on campus who rushed to book tickets for home.

(16:42) Handling the current academic situation during these exigent times in a highly pragmatic way, the Dean of Academics announced some key points regarding the proceedings of the online classes which are scheduled to commence from the 23rd. 

Listed below are the major decisions regarding the new online manner of teaching which will be carried out on Microsoft Teams unless otherwise specified by the faculty.

• The classes will follow the same timetable that was announced for Spring 2020.
• All 8:30 classes have been shifted to the 5pm slot on that very day, with SMAI moving to the 2 PM slot on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
• All course assignments etc will be handled via moodle.
• Most Lab/Project based courses or labs which are a part of a course (AEC lab, IoT lab, EW2 project, Science 2 lab…) will be conducted when the students return, on campus, at a later date.
• The semester aims to be completed within 3-5 weeks, course assessment plans will be informed in the month of April.
• All courses will have several activities (online quizzes, weekly assignments, projects etc) for which sincere participation is requested.
• https://faculty.iiit.ac.in/~venkatesh.choppella/rc/ is the link provided for all technical and other support.
• All online classes will be recorded and the recording will be available on the cloud.

19th March:

(17:06) The Academic Office asked students to avoid frequent personal visits to the office. Requests for urgent certificates can be made by emailing [email protected], and the office will prepare, scan, and send the documents necessary. Fee amounts will be collected later. 
Students were also asked to raise help tickets (at help.iiit.ac.in) in case of “unavoidable circumstances”.

18th March:

(19:06) Dr. Prabhakar announced decisions made in “a spate of meetings today” regarding the movement of people in and out of campus. This restricts the movement of students and visitors, with implementation details to be managed by the Security Committee and the GAD; Aarogya medical staff to collaborate on certain aspects as well.

1. The in/out movement of students at the Main gate has been restricted starting from the morning of 19th March, 2020. 
2. Visitors to campus are strongly discouraged. He announced that T-Hub and CIE have been disallowing visitors since this Monday (16th March). 
3. Everyone entering campus is now required to undergo a body temperature check at the main gate. The Institute is procuring a contactless thermometer for the same. Persons with high temperature may be disallowed entry.

He also announced that the Institute is following the Standard Operating Procedure advisory issued by the State of Telangana issued for IT companies located in Hyderabad.
(21:16) After another meeting regarding the fall in number of students, the MessComm decided to suspend Yuktahar operations, rendering kadamb as the only functioning mess from Friday (20.03.20). They said that a factor that they took into account in making this decision was that the turnout of students in the messes was significantly lower than the number of registrations, this difference could be attributed to the possibility that students vacated the hostels without cancelling their respective mess registrations.

17th March:

(17:06) The HR Office announced restrictions on Library functionality – to be open only from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with all “library circulation services” (checkout, check-in, and renewals) temporarily stopped. The announcement stated that the discussion had happened in the “COVID-19 meeting held on 16.03.2020 (Tuesday)”. We could not confirm if this date/day pair meant Monday or Tuesday.

(12:33) In a valiant effort to keep the corona cases in the city to a bare minimum, the state health officials along with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) are working to convert the sports village center in Gachibowli stadium to a 50 bed quarantine facility with proper sanitation teams on standby. The work started on Monday (16/3/20) is expected to be completed in two days time. 

The village with 468 rooms has remained unoccupied after the National Games of 2002 and has been taken over by the health department. These rooms are expected to house passengers arriving from China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Germany and Spain.

Source: Telangana Today

16th March:

(22:21) The Mess Office announces that only the Kadamb and Yuktahar messes will be functional from the 19th of March (the day after the date given to students to vacate their hostel rooms). This scaling down of operations would enable the mess staff to focus on maintaining the required levels of hygiene along with other measures in place, such as including regular thermal screening of mess staff and regular fumigation of the serving areas.

(12:18) In the afternoon, Dr. Prabhakar Bhimalapuram announced that the institute was able to acquire 250 small bottles of hand sanitizers. It was announced that these bottles would be given on request to students leaving the campus and who do not have other access to hand sanitizers.

14th March:

(20:49) The MessComm announces that they will provide 17 extra mess cancellations for the month on account of the mandated student holidays.

(19:56) In another circular pertaining to the suspension of in-campus teaching on campus, Dr.Prabhakar mentioned that the decision to suspend academics was taken unanimously in a meeting with the Apex committee which was called for due to the rapidly escalating medical situation regarding CoVid-19.

This meeting was held at 3:30PM, by which time several state governments in India had ordered closure of educational institutes in their states, also .

Just after the conclusion of the meeting, the decision taken by the Telangana State Government to close all academic institutions was brought into the limelight connoting that regardless of the verdict reached by the Apex committee, this outcome would’ve been inevitable.

This caused some concern for students whose place of residence may impose a restriction on people flying out of the country if the college was to recommence its activities after a ban imposed on the same.

The Dean of Academics proposed two solutions to one such student: 

1. Stay on campus if the Council of Wardens agrees.
2. Stay with a local guardian.

(17:33)  The director, Dr. PJN sent out an email to all the residents of the campus. This mail deals with two points:

1. Regarding academics: With immediate effect, all academic work – “All in-campus teaching/laboratory activities” that takes place on campus is to be suspended. While no date was given for the restarting of the laboratory activities, the mail stated that the institute is exploring options to resume all or a part of coursework in an online, digital or hybrid fashion by the 23rd of the month. This happens to be after the start of the quizzes (as stated by the almanac) which were to commence from the 21st of March.
2. Hostel Stay: All the UG1, UG2, UG3, UG4, MTech1, MTech2 students are required to vacate their hostel rooms, at the latest by the 18th of the month. For the ones who cant comply with the above, special permission needs to be taken from the chair CoW on Monday, March 16th. For the students not mentioned in the above email, the decision to leave the hostel depends on their will.

(13:51) “On considering the advisories received from the government on the precautions to be taken regarding the COVID-19 virus, BITS pilani announces the following:….”

The mail sent out to the students of all the BITS campuses in India, has two major takeaways, those being:

1. All the degree students will have their classes suspended, with immediate effect,  until the 31st of March.
2. The students mentioned in the above point are to vacate their hostels by the 17th of March and go home, to the care of their respective parents/guardians.

The mail also hinted at using viable online platforms to continue the course operations. 

13th March:

The Director announced the setting up of an Apex Committee to “monitor the situation and take any necessary actions”, that would meet daily/as often as necessary. The committee comprises:

• B Prabhakar (Health Warden)
• P Krishna Reddy (CoW Chair)
• V V Ramana (Dy Registrar, Administration)

He also added a note on avoiding “non-essential travel”, both outside of and inside the city, noting that “We have a close community, which will be at risk if the virus comes into the campus”

10th March:

In a decision that took the student committee by surprise, the dean of academics announced that attendance won’t be taken in classes till the 28th of March.

The reason stated was: During the weekend preceding this announcement, many people went home and with the prevailing spread of COVID-19, the institute didn’t want to compromise on the wellbeing of the students. 

As the current rule of 85% attendance per class is quite a demand, this came as a relief for the students who are panicked about contracting the disease from crowded areas.

Earlier in the day, Dr.Prabhakar sent out another advisory stating that if, on return to campus, any symptoms of the virus are felt by a student then the concerned should go to Aarogya immediately. The caretakers were advised to talk to the students coming back to campus regarding the circulated advisory.

7th March:

Dr.Prabhakar responded to the faculty who raised their concerns about the spread of the virus. The email provided a reasoning for the practises followed by the campus to prevent the spread of the virus. He also apologised for the inconvenience caused by implementing such measures but claimed that if, in the future, we look at the campus’s response to the situation, the decisions that seem unjust and unnecessary at the current point of time will all make sense. He also stated that advisories would be issued every week.

A reminder regarding the institute issued advisory of not playing Holi due to the current state of affairs was also sent around by the same.

5th March/ 6th March:

Seating arrangements for courses with a large number of students was circulated in accordance with the demands of the students against biometrics.

Another advisory was put out by Dr.Prabhakar which listed out previous points and steps to increase overall hygiene on campus, like wiping desks down with disinfectant twice a day, providing proper hand sanitizers in most restrooms and minimizing avoidable human clustering in the form of meetings, especially in T-HUB.

4th March: 

Reports of a case of the coronavirus surface in Hyderabad’s tech center (Mindspace).

The R&D showcase which was due to commence on the 7th of March was cancelled (“postponed” was the term used, but no alternative dates have been given yet).Taking into account that the virus has found its way to Hyderabad and this event allows a stream of visitors and guests coming onto the campus and the students fear of the virus lead to this prudent call being taken.

Dr. Prabhakar sent out another mail which once again highlighted the importance of personal hygiene.

He also advised travel outside campus to be avoided where and when possible. 

He brought about the topic of celebrating holi in these times, and while not explicitly calling off students from celebrating the festival, “safe ways of sharing the gaiety” was encouraged. 

Prabhakar M. (not to be confused with Dr. Prabhakar Bhimalapuram) wrote about the importance of having a good night’s sleep, which was received well by the students (well… sort of).

While more people from the student body spoke up and proposed different solutions to the prevention of acquiring the virus, such as not allowing the entry of food delivery people/ cabs onto campus, faculty and staff gave their take on this episode and had advice including the abstinence from non-veg (stopping the serving of non-veg in the messes).

The spread of false information led to the circulation of a link from the World health organisation (and of course, another friendly reminder that in times like this, the importance of personal hygiene cannot be emphasised enough).

Hospital visit experiences were shared. Posts were posted on Life@IIITH. Dr.Kamalakar shared a video regarding the virus which encouraged people to stay calm in such times as “panic never helps”.

3rd March: 

As panic about the arrival of the virus in Hyderabad sparked, an advisory on the virus, given by Continental Hospitals was circulated via email. Students were informed of symptoms of the virus, so that help could be sought if required. Several instructions to  reduce the risk of contracting the virus were given, they include;

• NO unprotected contact with live wild or farm animals.
• Thoroughly cooking meat and eggs.
• Using masks.
• Reiterating that personal hygiene is the best way to stay safe.

The students of the college have a say in this saying that steps must be taken not just at a personal level but also at an administrative level, the suggested precautionary measurements are listed;

• Suspending the use of biometric devices, especially in the classrooms and messes.
• The issuing of quick medical leaves.
• Replenishment of the Sanitary stations on campus and the encouragement to use sanitizers.
• Mess staff using masks and gloves.

Shortly following this mail, Dr.Prabhakar listed out a few more points regarding the concerns that were raised by the student body after discussion with medical doctors.

The mail stated that the virus is new and the quality of assessment and risk the virus poses is not very high at the time being but is constantly improving. Once again, the importance of personal hygiene was the first point to be brought up.

The campus preparations for combating the spread of the virus to the IIIT community at the time being are;

• Activating the RFID sensor at the main gate (further reducing the usage of biometrics)
• Procuring face masks at Aarogya.
• Requesting the students to be mindful of going out of the campus to populous areas such as DLF.