After two staff members of a store in Phoenix Mall in Chennai tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), public health authorities have brought all employees of the store under their direct watch, and have asked them to quarantine themselves at home. In case of any symptoms, they have been asked to call their local health authorities or contact the COVID-19 control rooms.
On March 27, a 25-year-old woman, who worked at the store, tested positive for COVID-19 and is undergoing treatment at the Government Hospital, Ariyalur. On Tuesday, her co-worker, a 28-year-old man, also tested positive and is admitted to Government Medical College Hospital, Tiruvannamalai.
An official of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine said all staff of the store were already under home quarantine, and disinfection measures were already taken.
“We have traced all contacts. All staff of the store are under our direct watch as they reside in multiple districts. We did not want to create panic. So, we told the store management to get the details of persons who visited the store from their database. Their phone numbers will be available in the billing database, and we told them to send individual messages asking them to contact the health authorities in case of symptoms,” a health official of the Chennai Corporation said.
He added that the management has reached out to nearly 360 persons using the details in the database through broadcast messages. The officials said the safety advisory has been sent personally to all of them.
