Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh on Tuesday wrote to officials, asking them to ensure all preventive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 at workplaces.In a letter to Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, Secretaries, Secretaries In-charge and all heads of the Departments/Head of offices, Singh asked them to follow the preventive measures issued by the Union Health Ministry to contain the spread of COVID-19 at the workplace.
"The concerned head of the office or any senior officer nominated by the head of the department will be the designated nodal officer for enforcement and application of these guidelines in their respective offices. The Additional Chief Secretary shall ensure the implementation of these guidelines in the Uttarakhand Secretariat," he wrote in the letter.
Singh wrote in the letter: "It shall be the responsibility of the nodal officer to inform the District Magistrate/Chief Medical Officer immediately via e-mail if any person in the office is found to be suffering from symptoms suggestive of COVID-19. Upon intimation, the District Rapid Response teams shall immediately undertake testing, situation analysis, risk assessment of all the staff -- categorise them as high/low-risk contacts and inform the concerned District Magistrate/Chief Medical Officer."
The letter further reads that the nodal person shall also be responsible for ensuring that the office spaces are properly stised as per the guidelines if any staff is found COVID-19 positive. The concerned district administration will further ensure that home quarantines are followed strictly and health teams undertake monitoring of the home quarantined persons as per guidelines.
"If there are one or two cases reported, the disinfection procedure will be limited to places/areas visited by the patient in the past 48 hrs. There is no need to close the entire office building/halt work in other areas of the office and work can be resumed after disinfection as per laid down protocol," the letter adds.
A total of 41 new cases have been reported in Uttarakhand, as per the information provided by the state Health Department. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the State has climbed to 999 including 746 active cases.
While 243 people have recovered after treatment in the state so far, seven deaths have been reported.
( With inputs from ANI )