With the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) reporting its second COVID-19 case on Thursday, the authorities have decided to ask the ISRO facility to step up disease surveillance on the campus.

The VSSC will be asked to introduce stringent measures to screen all employees and visitors, Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran told reporters after assessing the COVID-19 scenario at a district-level review meeting on Friday. District Collector Navjot Khosa will convey the decision to the VSSC director, he added. The VSSC would also be asked to isolate visitors or personnel exhibiting symptoms on the campus, he said.

According to Mr. Surendran, scientists were ‘frequently travelling’ to and from VSSC and States like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, but were not undergoing any tests. “The review meeting concluded that the VSSC should adopt stringent measures,” he said.

“We will advise them to step up their own surveillance. All standard operating procedures have to be followed,” Ms. Khosa told The Hindu.

Two cases

The VSSC had reported its first COVID-19 case on June 26. A 41-year-old technician hailing from Manacaud had tested positive, prompting the space facility to disinfect on June 27 areas on the campus visited by the patient. On Thursday, July 2, a graduate trainee associated with the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV) project hailing from Neyyattinkara tested positive. In both instances, the sources of infection remain vague.

Over 50 employees/other personnel on the campus have been directed to go into quarantine after the VSSC trainee tested positive. Disinfection of various locations on the campus which began on Friday is expected to be completed by Saturday.

‘No interstate travel’

Meanwhile, no official response was forthcoming from the VSSC in connection with the Minister’s remarks. The campus has remained shut since Monday. Sources pointed out that interstate travel between ISRO facilities across the country has been more or less non-existent since March.