Coronavirus: Govt issues fresh guidelines for Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances dept

As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise rapidly, the government has issued fresh guidelines for the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances after several officials tested positive for coronavirus. All officials have been advised to follow certain protocol to contain the spread of coronavirus in offices.

These are the new guidelines for the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances:

• Only asymptomatic staff shall be allowed. Anyone with a mild cold or cough or fever needs to stay at home.
• Officers or staff in the containment zone will not come in the office and work from home till containment zone is de-notified.
• Not more than 20 staff or offices can attend office. The roster should be reworked accordingly. The remaining staff will continue to work from home.
• Undersecretaries or deputy secretaries if sharing a cabin will come on alternate days to enforce social distancing.
• A section can't have more than two officials at a time. Staggering office hours shall be followed to ensure no more than 20 staff in any given time in the office. As far as possible, windows may be kept open to ensure proper ventilation in halls.
• Face mask and faces shield have to be worn at all times inside the office premises.
• User masks and gloves shall be discarded carefully in the yellow colour biomedical waste bin only. Strict action will be taken on throwing gloves or marks in open or in normal waste bins. The general section will inform housekeeping about norms for disposal of such waste.
• Video conferencing may be attended from the respective rooms of the officers and conferences in board room may be avoided as far as possible,
• Hand-washing in every half an hour is a must to prevent the spread of infection. Hand sanitising dispensers shall be installed at prominent places in corridors.
• Frequently touched places such as electric switches, doorknobs, elevator buttons, hand rains, washroom furniture shall be cleared in every one hour.

India on Tuesday reported the highest single-day spike of 9,987 new COVID-19 cases and 331 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of cases in the country now stands at 2,66,598, including 1,29,917 active cases, 1,29,215 cured/discharged/migrated and 7,466 deaths, the latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data suggests.  The country has seen over 9,000 coronavirus cases for the six consecutive days now. A total of 49,16,116 samples have been tested until now, of which 1,41,682 samples have been tested in the past 24 hours, the Indian Council of Medical Research has said.

Also read: Coronavirus crisis: India sees biggest spike of 9,887 new cases, 331 deaths; tally rises to 2.66 lakh