Over 700 employees wait outside office refusing to get inside for fear of contracting virus

Mysore/Mysuru: Work at the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) Office came to a grinding halt this morning as one of MUDA’s Assistant Engineers tested positive for COVID-19. The officer has been placed under home quarantine.

Over 700 employees including the regular ones and employees on contract stood before the MUDA Office this morning after they learnt that the Assistant Engineer tested positive. They refused to go inside their respective sections for the fear of contracting the virus.

Officials contacted MUDA Commissioner Dr. D.B. Mahesh and apprised him of the situation and told him that the MUDA employees were scared of entering the office as a couple of days back, an APMC Assistant Engineer died of the virus infection.

The Commissioner declared a day’s holiday today even as the employees were demanding that a three-day holiday must be given to them and the office must be completely sanitised. MUDA sources told Star of Mysore that a meeting will be held with Health Department officials and MUDA Commissioner this evening and a decision will be taken whether to close the office for three days or not.

As the MUDA Office was sealed down, there was no work in any of its sections today and people who had come for their work done had to return home empty handed.
As per the Centre’s guidelines, there is no need to seal an entire building if a person living or working there tests positive for Coronavirus disease because disinfection of the affected floor and common areas is enough to stop the spread of infection, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The Health Ministry has issued a detailed advisory on do’s and don’ts if a non-COVID hospital reports a COVID-19 positive case. The same rules apply for office premises or any other building from where a positive case is reported. There is no need to shut the entire premises rather one can just do proper disinfection of the main area, and other common areas.

Several Government Offices in Mysuru where there is a close contact between officers and the public including the Mysuru City Corporation Office had been sealed in the last two months as the COVID infection spread showed an increased trend.

Even several Police Stations including the Mandi Mohalla Police Station, General Branch at the City Police Commissioner’s new Office in Nazarbad, Office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) – Traffic, located at Shivarampet, V.V. Puram and Vijayanagar Police Stations were also sealed, affecting regular work.

District Administration sources told Star of Mysore that work in Government offices barring some revenue-generating departments and those directly involved in the fight against the virus has virtually come to a standstill. With many employees diverted to COVID-related work, people are finding it impossible to get their problems resolved. Many officials who are not on COVID duty are staying at home due to the fear of contracting the virus.