All of us are aware of the precarious situation we are faced with due to COVID 19 pandemic. Just like students all over the world students at KSHEMA have lost valuable academics and we all understand the need to get back.

Ever since the notice was issued by the college on 1st Sep 2020 and the Web meeting conducted on the 4th, there was a feeling of uncertainty in our minds regarding the safety of students returning to hostels. We are extremely relieved and happy to note that the Dean and the management have taken the concerns of the parents very seriously and deferred the decision until clear protocols are made.

COVID cases are on the rise in India and Karnataka is no exception. It is in the phase of community spread. According to available studies and experience from all over the world, we know that the chances of transmission is at its peak.

Due to political and economic reasons governments may want to quickly reopen public places. But we must exercise maximum caution before restarting classroom activities and hostel life.

There is no consensus among experts regarding restarting of colleges and universities.

While we appreciate the good arrangements made in the classroom and practical halls, hostel and mess remain a major concern due to the following reasons
1. PG students and interns(those working in the hospital) share the same hostel. As per the Karnataka govt instructions even final year students may be posted for duty.

2. There are no provision store or medical store in the campus to get essential things. Food quality and handling have been concerns even during Non COVID times.

Parents of students with co-morbid conditions are worried about higher risk to their wards

Many students have to travel by flights to reach- very risky proposition in this scenario.

There are no sound guidelines on the quarantine and testing patterns on restarting of hostel facilities.

Due to the above reasons we request you to consider the following suggestions before the re opening.

1. Recalling, whenever it is planned, may be done in a phased manner, batch wise starting with final years.
2. Before it is done, we request you to implement following precautionary measures

a. Separate hostels for hospital going and non hospital going students

b. Only take away service of packed food

c. Provision stores and adequate medicine stock in hostels

d. Hostel rooms, common areas and mess should be frequently sanitized and sanitizer dispensers placed at important locations in hostel premises.

e. All the hostel and mess staff should be screened by temperature scanning on every shift and their contact history strictly monitored by authorities.

f. All theory classes may be continued in the online format until COVID 19 is under reasonable control.

g. Adequate isolation and treatment facilities be made available to the students in case they become infected and the details of which communicated.

Kindly consider these suggestions and arrange one more online meeting before final decision is made

We are strongly with you. Please understand our genuine concerns

Parents of Medical Students, Batch of 2018