COVID-19: Aviation ministry employee tests positive; headquarters to be sealed

Headquarters of the Ministry of Civil Aviation will be sealed “as per the prescribed protocol,” Union civil aviation minister Hardeep Puri said after an employee of the ministry who attended office on April 15 tested positive for COVID-19.

The ministry headquarters at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in New Delhi’s Jor Bagh will be sealed and officials who have had contact with the staffer will be tested, he said.

“An employee of the ministry who had attended office on 15 April, 2020, has tested positive for COVID-19 on 21st April. All necessary protocols are being stringently followed on the premises,” the ministry said on Twitter.

Government of Delhi is seized of the matter. They are taking appropriate steps as per the laid protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling.

— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) April 22, 2020

All colleagues, who came in contact with the employee, have been asked to go into self isolation as a precaution, it said.

“Government of Delhi is seized of the matter. They are taking appropriate steps as per the laid protocol for contact tracing and risk profiling,” it said.

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Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, in a tweet said, “We stand by our colleague at Ministry of Civil Aviation who has tested positive for COVID-19 and have extended all possible medical help and support.”

We stand by our colleague at @MoCA_GoI who has tested positive for COVID19 & have extended all possible medical help & support. 

Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures.

I wish him strength & speedy recovery. https://t.co/ff8gN9dFOW

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) April 22, 2020

“Those in contact have also been asked to follow the laid down procedures. I wish him strength and speedy recovery,” he said.

India has been under lockdown since March 25 to arrest the spread of novel coronavirus, which has infected more than 20,000 people in the country. More than 600 people have died due to the disease.

(With inputs from agencies)