Railways suspends official who tried to save infected son from quarantine

An official of South Western Railway has been suspended for “hiding” her son, who returned from Germany and later tested positive for coronavirus, at a railway guest house in Bengaluru, officials said on Friday (March 20).

She not only failed to inform authorities about her son’s return from Germany but also endangered the lives of others by lodging him in a railway rest house near the main Bangalore railway station, railway spokesperson E Vijaya told PTI.

The Assistant Personnel Officer (Traffic) has been suspended, Vijaya said. The 25-year-old man, who came from Germany via Spain and was instructed to be in home quarantine after he landed at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on March 13, later tested positive for COVID-19 on March 18, a railway spokesperson told PTI.

“She virtually hid her son to protect her family but endangered all of us,” a South Western Railway official said.

In a statement, Vijaya said as per the recent Karnataka Epidemic (the Karnataka Epidemic Diseases, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020) Act, any person with a travel history to a country affected by COVID-19 or coming in contact with such person shall declare the same and intimate the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Karnataka.

“She came in contact with her son who recently returned from Germany via Spain and she did intimate the state government or the railways about the same. The officer chose to quarantine her son in a government rest house frequented by railway officials, posing a potential public health hazard,” the statement said.

Officials said the suspended officer had also visited her office.

“The boy stayed in a rest house from Friday to Sunday (March 13-March 15). He himself went for a check up at a hospital and his test reports later revealed he is positive for coronavirus. As a preventive measure, the rest house has now been closed and the cleaning staff are kept under quarantine. All the officers and families who stayed in the rest house are being informed to be on look out and be alert for symptoms, if any. Details of people who stayed have been shared with state government too. Fumigation is being done,” the spokesperson said.