Passenger with Covid symptoms at Tatanagar stn not allowed on train

Jamshedpur: A 30-year-old woman and her two kids, aged three and five, were not allowed to board the Tata-Danapur Express from Tatanagar station on Thursday and had their tickets cancelled after their co-passengers alerted the railway officials when they saw the woman coughing and sneezing — all symptoms of Covid-19. A thermal scan by the railway officials revealed that her temperature was high and resultantly, she was later sent to the state-run MGM hospital for a virus test.
The woman and her kids had come here from Patna two days ago to meet their relatives in Telco Colony. She was scheduled to return to Patna on Thursday when the incident took place. She was waiting at the platform before boarding the train when she started coughing and sneezing, triggering panic among her co-passengers who immediately called the railway officials and pleaded with them to check her temperature. Though the woman allegedly said that she was coughing because of an allergy, she wasn’t allowed to go back to her hometown.
On Friday, Tatanagar station director H K Balmuchu said, “We are not taking any chances after the outbreak of Covid-19.”
Meanwhile, railways, going by the new standard operating procedure, has asked all its workers to wear masks while reporting to work. Railways has distributed masks and gloves to all its workers in Chakradharpur division, sources said.