With the number of coronavirus cases surging every day, the Government today issued a set of guideline for central govt employees and staffers to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The development also comes in the wake of several officials in various ministries/departments testing positive for the Chinese-originated virus. The guideline for all central govt employees must be followed by them.

All officers are advised to follow the following protocol to contain the spread of coronavirus:

1) Only asymptomatic staff shall be allowed. Anyone with mild cough or fever needs to stay at home.

2) Officers/Staff residing in the containment zone shall not come to the office and work from home till the containment zone is de-notified.

3) Not more than 20 staff/officers shall be attending office in a day. The roster will be reworked accordingly. The remaining staff will continue to work from home.

4) Under Secretaries/Deputy Secretaries if sharing a cabin, then they will come alternate days to enforce social distancing.

5) The Section shall not have more than two officials at a time, staggering office hours shall be followed to ensure not 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.

6) Face mask and face shield have to be worn at all times inside the office premises. Disciplinary action will be taken if it found that the protocol for the mask is not followed in the office.

7) Used Mask and gloves shall be discarded carefully in a yellow color biomedical waste bin only, strict action will be taken against people violating this rule.

8) VCs may be attended front he respective rooms of the officers. VC in Board room may be avoided as far as possible. The general section will provide the necessary equipment to the officers so that they can join the web-room from their respective computers.

9) Face facing meetings/discussions/interactions be avoided as far as possible. Officers/Staff will be using intercom/phone/VC for interactions.

10) Handwashing in every half an hour is a must to prevent the spread of infection. Hand sanitizing dispensers shall be installed at prominent places in corridors.

11) Frequently touched places such as electric switches, doorknobs, elevator buttons, handrails, washroom fixtures, etc shall be cleaned every one hour with 1% Sodium Hypochlorite. Officers/Staff are also advised to clean their personal equipment like keyboards, mouse, phones, AC remotes, etc by themselves by using any ethanol-based disinfectant frequently.

12) The distance of 1 meter shall be maintained while sitting or walking. Visitors’ chairs in the cabins of the officers shall be placed accordingly keeping the norms of social distancing.

13) All officers are requested to follow these instructions without fail.