A 36-year-old staffer of the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) has died of Covid-19, while nine others, who were part of a core team which helped ensure business continuity of the bourse during the lockdown, have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said on Saturday.
The staffer died on Monday, and the nine colleagues who have tested positive were from a team of 30 which used to spend a fortnight at the commodity bourse’s office in suburban Andheri by rotation since the lockdown was announced in March, the officials said.
However, it was still unclear if the office has been sealed and if so, how is the exchange continuing with its operations.
A query sent to MCX remained unanswered.
The financial capital has turned into a hotspot of the coronavirus infection, accounting for nearly a fifth of the over 2 lakh positive cases in the country so far.
Financial institutions, especially systemically important ones like exchanges and regulators, have core teams to ensure operational continuity.
In the case of MCX, there were two teams of 30 people each mandated with ensuring business continuity out of the city office. They used to work from the office for two weeks by rotation, officials said.
The deceased staffer’s samples tested positive on Friday, leading the bourse to start testing all the employees he was in close contact with. Tests on the other employees led to the discovery of nine more who have been infected with the virus, officials said.
They said the deceased staffer was during a break away from his work roster when he died, and the exact details of when he got infected were not immediately known.
An official said necessary precautions like sanitising the facility have been undertaken by MCX.
Thank you for being a loyal user of Portfolio.
Portfolio will be a paid section hereon.
Please Subscribe to get access to one of our early bird packs.
Or click on Free Trial to get 14 days free trial.
What You'll Get
-
Web + Mobile
Access exclusive content of the Hindu Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device.
-
Exclusive Portfolio and Investment Advice, Banking, Lifestyle and Specials
Get diverse set of perspectives from our trusted experts on Portfolio, Banking, Economy, Environment and others.
-
Ad free experience
Experience cleaner site with zero ads and faster load times.
-
Personalised dashboard
Customize your preference and get a personalized recommendation of stories based on your interest.
Published on
June 06, 2020
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Support Quality Journalism