60 staff test positive, Kerala Secretariat becomes hotbed

60 staff test positive, Kerala Secretariat becomes hotbed

The Secretariat, the state administrative headquarters, is turning into a Covid-19 hotbed as more employees of various departments have been testing positive everyday of late.

Published: 06th February 2021 03:50 AM 

The Kerala Secretariat building in Thiruvananthapuram 

By Express News Service

KOCHI: The Secretariat, the state administrative headquarters, is turning into a Covid-19 hotbed as more employees of various departments have been testing positive everyday of late. The employee associations have asked the government to increase the number of Covid tests in the Secretariat and limit the attendance of staff in various departments to 50% . So far, over 60 employees of various departments have tested Covid positive.

In the wake of the spread, the development hall of the finance department and housing co-operative society centre have been closed. Most of the affected staff are from the law and general administration departments as employees from both these departments had participated in the canteen administrative committee elections conducted recently violating all Covid-19 protocol norms.

Nearly 3,000 staff participated in the elections and this was the key reason for the quick spread of the virus. T Sreekumar, general secretary, Kerala Secretariat Employees Association, said the association has sent petitions to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta to do the needful for preventing the Covid spread in the Secretariat.

“We have filed petitions so as to address the issue at the earliest. The finance department is completely closed. We are afraid that the virus would spread to employees in other departments and it will cause a crisis. We hope the government will take a positive stand. We have also urged the government to postpone the housing cooperative society’s elections due on March 10,” he said. The Left union which rules the society had earlier said the elections would be held following the Covid-19 protocol.

According to them, the election is overdue and a new panel needs to take charge. The tenure of the existing panel will end on April 24. Hence, the society has decided to hold the elections on March 10, adhering to the protocol and social distancing norms.

The society sought the approval from the State Election Commission to hold the elections under the supervision of the electoral officer and returning officer. Last week, a video of the employees making a beeline to cast their votes in the Secretariat canteen board elections presented an egg-on-the-face moment for the government that has been grappling with an unusually high number of active Covid-19 cases.

The video, apparently shot using a mobile camera, depicted employees swarming the Durbar Hall of the Secretariat flouting restrictions to cast their votes. Many were seen without masks or misplaced ones, while physical distancing was totally overlooked. The state has been witnessing a surge in Covid cases prompting the government to adopt tough measures once again.