At least three people working in the sanitation departments of the south and north civic bodies have tested positive for COVID-19, senior officials said on Friday. Around 48 employees who came in contact with the staff have been put under quarantine.
In the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), 53-year-old sanitation worker Ramesh* posted in Daryaganj, and 43-year-old Rani* working in Tagore Garden tested positive. The civic body’s spokesperson said that neither of the employees were deployed at a hotspot or were engaged in disinfection work. Ramesh, who was admitted to AIIMS on Wednesday and is currently on a ventilator, had attended duty only twice this month, said the corporation. Meanwhile, nine of Rani’s colleagues have been asked to self-isolate at home. Her husband, also a sanitation worker in the same ward, tested negative on Thursday but was called in for a re-test at Lok Nayak Hospital on Friday.
In the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, an Assistant Sanitation Inspector in the Rohini Zone has tested positive. A senior official said that the infected person had self-isolated as soon he felt unwell. They added that all his contacts are in home quarantine and the family members were tested on Friday.
A total of 39 staffers in the Department of Environmental Services have been placed under quarantine, all of whom were reportedly asymptomatic.
Later on Friday, the civic body issued revised guidelines for sanitation staff engaged in lifting Municipal Solid Waste.
All employees will now have their temperature checked daily before starting to work. In case, a worker has above normal temperature they will be sent for further checks. Staff will also be required to sanitise their hands after signing in and before leaving duty. Waste-picking concessionaires have also been instructed to provide their staff with safety equipment.
(*Names changed)
