The novel coronavirus has struck at the nerve-centre of COVID-19 operations in Puducherry with positive cases being reported at the war rooms of both the health and police departments.
While the control room at the health directorate was temporarily shut for several hours for disinfection after a staffer tested positive, the police war room at Gorimedu, too, had to be temporarily closed after a rash of cases were reported recently.
Among those on the frontlines of COVID management, the police force has been among the worst-affected with about 100 policemen catching the infection so far.
At the war room in Gorimedu, after four policemen tested positive, a section of police felt that it was ironical that the downtime of the war room, which was the pivot of operations, was too insufficient to offer any meaningful protection to other staff.
"The premises were shut for a few days as four cases identified in quick succession were treated as a cluster,” said Rahul Alwal, SSP, who himself had gone into precautionary quarantine and resumed work only on Sunday.
The department has been sticking to the Standard Operating Procedure for affected workplaces issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the entire war room operations were carried out remotely during that period, Mr. Alwal said.
Police stations where positive cases are confirmed are closed for disinfection with an average downtime of about 48 hours and routine work is shifted to a temporary work site to minimise disruption. Policemen who get infected or go into quarantine are being given a COVID kit with about 30 essentials items apart from financial aid, he said.
Meanwhile, the COVID control room at the health directorate was shut for several hours after an employee tested positive. “We had to opt for as quick a turnaround as possible by rotating technical staff given the critical role of the facility in guiding the COVID response strategy in the Union Territory,” said S. Mohan Kumar, Director of Health.
