30 SBI staff test Covid-19 positive in Trichy

TRICHY: Thirty employees of the State Bank of India (SBI) administrative office on McDonalds Road in Trichy tested positive for Covid-19, while a senior manager succumbed to the disease, the first casualty among bank employees in the district. Employees claimed that there were at least 38 positive cases in the campus.
Senior bankers and Trichy Corporation acknowledged that banking sector employees are gradually contracting Covid-19 in several parts of the city.
An official working in the campus said that a mass screening was conducted for about 80 employees on July 22. While the results that came out the next day revealed that 38 employees, including temporary messengers had tested positive, the bank management maintained that only 30 were positive.
A 58-year-old assistant general manager (AGM) who had comorbidities succumbed at a private hospital on Friday evening. Although people with chronic illness were entitled to avail relaxations, SBI sources said that the deceased manager reported for work since he was unit head. “We had a significant number of customers, including pensioners visiting the branch, to withdraw money. There were several loan inquiries in the last week,” an SBI employee under home quarantine said.
The campus was closed on Friday after the employees tested positive. “SBI campus has to be disinfected. Will request the district administration to keep the campus closed for three consecutive days till Wednesday,” V Sathyanarayanan, lead district bank manager told TOI. However, a senior official said that it would reopen on Monday as fumigation was carried out.
Around 300 employees are working in the campus of which at least 10% tested positive. “We have followed all the safety measures. One AGM in the branch died of Covid-19 as he had pre-existing diseases,” a senior manager with SBI Trichy told TOI. Trichy Corporation officials assured to trace the contacts including the customers who visited the bank last week.