The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has advised its employees to postpone non-essential overseas travel and restrict domestic travel to essential ones following the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) to many countries across the world, including India.
As per an advisory to deal with COVID-19, vertical heads have been advised not to nominate any employee for official foreign visits, to the extent feasible. All meetings requiring travel, even within the country, may also be held, as far as possible, through video conference.
Employees who have visited places abroad recently (after December 2019), especially to five countries ― China, Singapore, South Korea, Iran and Italy ― will be kept under watch.
“Employees showing signs of COVID-19 should go for self-quarantine, consult a doctor and resume only after medical clearance,” the advisory said.
As there is no vaccine, drug or treatment for COVID-19 at present, the central bank asked its vertical heads to take preventive measures, including keeping bottles of recommended alcohol-based sanitisers at suitable locations (preferably at the entry point) in the premises.
“The dispensaries attached to offices/ colonies should be advised to keep sufficient stock of medicines such as paracetamol, which are needed for treatment of symptoms of flu-like infections. Some quantity of face masks may also be stocked and given to employees with cold, cough, etc,” the advisory said.
The advisory asked the vertical heads to bring to the notice of all employees the documents on Do’s and Don’ts and basic protective measures for all issued by the Government by displaying physical copies at prominent places in the bank’s offices and colonies.
“While doing so, it may be emphasised that the instructions are issued to bring awareness among employees and there is no reason to panic,” it added.
As per World Health Organisation’s latest situation report (as on March 11, 2020), there are 1,18,326 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infections across the world, with 4,627 new cases being detected in the last 24 hours. So, far there have been 4,292 deaths (280 in the last 24 hours). The COVID-19 outbreak has been declared a pandemic by WHO.
In China, which has been the epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak, alone, there are 80,955 confirmed cases, with 31 new cases being detected in the last 24 hours. So, far there have been 3,162 deaths in China (22 in the last 24 hours). In India, there are 60 confirmed COVID-19 cases.