With the second phase of lockdown ending soon, the government has come up with an update easing restriction for the workplace.
Now, your workplace won’t be closed or stopped even if a Covid-19 positive case is found on your premises.
As the officials say, this is likely to be followed across the nation in a move to boost economic activity alongside checking the virus spread.
“The office building will not be sealed or declared a containment zone. Instead, the authorities will quarantine the contacts of Covid-positive person and disinfect the floor or area, depending upon the advice of local authorities,” said an official.
In such a case, the district magistrate will follow the recommendations by health officials. “There are no instructions to seal the building for three months,” the official added.
As the reports say, the Health Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research are now considering containment measures such as pool testing methods.
“Instead of asking a whole bunch of people to self-quarantine for 14 days, they can be tested and confirmed,” added the official.
“Now that we are looking at availability of more antigen kits, we may be able to do pool testing. This will be able to decide which parts of the building, an office complex or a residential complex need to be sealed and where others shown to be uninfected can continue to function,” says Srinath Reddy, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
Even the technical committee on Covid-19 at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare says the workplace with infected cases shouldn’t be closed for long. It should instead be sanitized for use after 24 hours.
“In Tablighi Jamaat case too, the whole area was sanitized and closed for 48 hours to be on the safer side. This can be a new norm to sanitize the premises and open it after 12 hours for use,” says Sujeet Kumar Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control.
Meanwhile, employers have also been advised to work with 50 percent of employee strength at any time, while maintaining hygiene and social distancing.
“If feeling unwell, the employee should immediately leave the workplace and inform his reporting authority and home quarantine for the rest of period. Employees, who are in the high-risk zones like older and pregnant women should not be exposed in any front-line work, requiring direct contacts,” says Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) set by the Health Ministry.
The government is also emphasizing more on the usage of Aarogya Setu app for contact tracing and those in close contact can be asked to self-quarantine.
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