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The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) will remain closed for two days, as several officials have tested positive for Covid-19.
The entire premises of the MoHFW and the Directorate General of Health Services, at Nirman Bhawan here, will remain closed for sanitisation from June 6 to June 7, except for an emergency Covid-19 team, said an official memorandum issued by the Ministry.
The MoHFW has suspended routine issue of visitor passes. “Only those visitors who have proper permission of the officer, whom they want to meet, should be allowed after being properly screened,” said the memorandum.
“It has been noticed that at times social distancing is not being maintained in office premises,” it added.
The memorandum listed up to 40 precautionary rules for all employees for containment — from not spitting to barring physical receipt of files to practising respiratory hygiene (cough etiquette) and not using central air conditioning systems. It also prohibited the gathering of five or more persons at any place in the office.
Earlier, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan routinely held video conferences with State representatives in the conference hall, in the presence of staff members and cameras, with the number of persons often exceeding five.
Desk arrangement
The MoHFW has now stated that desks and chairs should be arranged in a zigzag pattern so that no two employees sit directly across from each other. It has also instructed employees to not lunch in groups, and barred all those who have given their throat and nasal swabs for checking to not come to office until the results are available.
While internal meetings in the Ministry were earlier often held physically, the MoHFW has now stated that all meetings should be carried out through video conferencing only. It has also barred drivers from containment zones from driving vehicles.
The wearing of masks inside the MoHFW premises is now mandatory, social distancing is a norm, and loitering or crowding in corridors has to be avoided, the memorandum stated.
As on June 4 across India: Total confirmed cases - 2,16,919; Recovered - 1,04,107; and Deaths - 6,075
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