The NITI Aayog building in Delhi was sealed on Tuesday for two days after a director-level officer tested positive for coronavirus on this day. The authorities were informed of the situation after the officer received his test results today at 9 PM, after which the administration took the decision to seal the building.
According to Alok Kumar, an adviser at NITI Aayog, anyone who came into contact with the concerned officer has been asked to go into self-quarantine.
"We are following necessary protocol and the health ministry has been informed and all the due processes will be followed. So, we are closed for 48 hours," Kumar said.
The NITI Aayog took to Twitter and informed that its building is undergoing disinfection and sanitisation after an official tested COVID-19 positive.
An employee working at NITI Bhavan has been detected positive with COVID-19. It was informed to the authorities at 9 am this morning. NITI Aayog is following all the due protocols necessary as per the Ministry of Health guidelines. The building has been sealed.
— NITI Aayog (@NITIAayog) April 28, 2020
Recently, the Aviation Ministry headquarters was also sealed after one of its employees who had attended office on April 15 tested positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Tuesday said that no fresh cases of COVID-19 have been reported in as many as 80 districts since the last seven days. "In 47 districts, no case has been reported in last 14 days, while 39 districts have not reported a case since last 21 days. 17 districts have not reported a case for last 28 days," said the minister, highlighting additional statistics about the doubling rate in the country.
"For the last 14 days, our doubling rate is 8.7, while for the last 7 days, it is 10.2 days. In last 3 days, it is 10.9 days roughly," said the Union Health Minister while interacting via video conference with the autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Chief Ministers of all states on Monday, via video conferencing on the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the country, where he said that all efforts should be directed towards converting the red zones into orange and thereafter to green zones.
He lent importance to the economy and maintained that necessary precautions need to be taken even after the lockdown. Modi informed that the coronavirus will be 'visible in the coming months', therefore 'masks and face covers will be part of our lives.'
As the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread like wildfire in India, the central and state governments are respectively amping up all of their efforts to check potential contamination. A nationwide lockdown is in place, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 14, who had declared an extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 to battle the novel coronavirus. Tuesday marks Day 14 of the extended COVID-19 Lockdown 2.0.