Civil aviation ministry HQ to be sealed as worker tests +ve
The complex will be sealed “as per the prescribed protocol,” civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri told Hindustan Times, adding that all officials who had come in contact with the employee will be tested for the Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19.
The ministry of civil aviation, headquartered at Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi’s Jor Bagh, is to be sealed after an employee tested positive for the coronavirus disease on Tuesday, becoming the first staffer at a central ministry to be confirmed as a Covid-19 carrier.
The complex will be sealed “as per the prescribed protocol,” civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri told Hindustan Times, adding that all officials who had come in contact with the employee will be tested for the Sars-Cov-2 virus that causes Covid-19.
The Delhi government is taking “appropriate steps” in line with the protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling, the ministry of civil aviation said in a statement on Wednesday..
“An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April 2020 has tested positive for COVID19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the Premises. All colleagues who came in contact are being asked to go into self-isolation as a precaution,” the statement said.
The staffer who tested positive complained of a pain in his throat a few days ago after which he got himself tested on Tuesday, a government official said. The 46-year-old man lives in South Delhi’s Dakshinpuri.
“He tested positive on April 21. We have put all his family members in home quarantine,” South Delhi district magistrate BM Mishra said. “We have informed the civil aviation ministry about it and asked them to check who all came into close contact with him and put them in home quarantine. We have also asked them to carry out measures to disinfect the building. We are trying to ascertain from where he got the infection.”
The person also visited a milk booth in his neighbourhood which has been sealed.
“We stand by our colleague at civil aviation ministry who has tested positive for COVID19 and have extended all possible medical help and support. Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures.I wish him strength and speedy recovery,” Puri tweeted later in the day.
Covid-19 reached Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament complex on Tuesday. A special housekeeper of the Lok Sabha, whose son works in Parliament too, and the daughter-in-law of a Rashtrapati Bhavan sanitation worker tested positive.
A cluster of 125 residential houses in the Rashtrapati Bhavan estate was sealed and the New Delhi Municipal Council turned a large number of residential houses near Kali Bari Marg, where the parliament employee lived, into a containment zone.
According to home ministry guidelines issued after the extension of the national lockdown until May 3, the government has ordered a phased return to office of central government ministry officials. The new guidelines call for 100% attendance by officers above the deputy secretary level and 33% attendance by junior staff
Some junior staff have expressed concerns over commuting to work under the lockdown. “Commuting has been tough as there aren’t enough vehicles for junior staff. We are supposed to carpool with others and tying up {arrangements} gets a bit tough,” one government employee said, requesting anonymity.
(With inputs from Risha Chitlangia:)
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