New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The Railway Ministry on Monday decided to close all offices at the Rail Bhawan for two days after another staffer tested coronavirus positive, taking the number of cases at the Indian Railways’ headquarters to five within two weeks.
“Some officials of the Railway Board have recently tested Covid-positive. Accordingly it has been decided to close all Offices at Rail Bhawan on 26 and 27 May, 2020 to carry out intensive sanitization of rooms and common areas,” Railway Board Joint Secretary B. Majumdar said in a circular.
He went to say that the offices on the fourth floor of Rail Bhawan will remain closed till May 29 for thorough disinfection.
“During this period, all officers would work from home and are to be available at all times on phone and other electronic means of communication. In case of any requirement for urgent work at office, specific directive would be given to the concerned officials for attending office.”
According to the Railway Ministry sources, a fourth-grade multi-tasking staffer, who last attended the office on May 19, tested Covid-19 positive. Nine of his contacts at the Rail Bhavan had been home quarantined, sources added.
The staffer was responsible for taking files from one official to another, thus coming in contact with several people during the day. They also moved files to the Chairman of the Railway Board and the Railway Minister’s office.
On Sunday, a senior official had tested Covid-19 positive. She had attended work last on May 20. As many as 14 officials who worked closely with her have been home quarantined.
Days before, another senior officer, involved with restructuring of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), had tested positive.
According to the Ministry officials, the woman staffer had visited the Rail Bhavan on May 13, after which it was shut for sanitisation for two days. On May 11, a RPF staffer had also tested coronavirus positive.
A few days later, a contractual worker who kept monkeys out of the building with his langoor had got infected with coronavirus.
