All section Close
Gujarat: Bank Of Baroda Mandvi Branch Temporarily Stops Operation As 'Sahayak' Tests Positive For COVID-19
Gujarat, 8 May 2020 9:07 AM GMT | Updated 8 May 2020 7:52 PM GMT
Editor : Prateek Gautam |
A free soul who believes that journalism, apart from politics, should stand for social cause and the environment.
Creatives : Abhishek M
" An engineer by profession, Abhishek is the creative producer of the team, graphic designing is his passion and travelling his get away. In more ways than one, he makes the content visually appealing."
The state of Gujarat ranks second in the list of highest COVID-19 cases and Vadodara is one of the several districts which have been classified as Red Zones.
A Bank of Baroda staffer from the main branch of Mandvi, Vadodara, tested positive for coronavirus on May 3. As a consequence, the branch was temporarily shut down on May 4 and is set to resume operations after a mere 6 days on May 11.
The staff member (identity withheld for privacy concerns) reportedly had not been coming to office since April 24 as he lived in a containment zone of the city. On April 30, his nephew tested positive for COVID-19. This led to the standard procedure of testing everyone else living in the same household as the patient. The bank 'sahayak' or peon was tested on May 1 and the test result came out positive on May 3.
The branch was temporarily closed the following afternoon, only after the entire morning was spent working normally. Multiple customers are said to have visited the branch for transactions that morning, which adds them to the list of potential asymptomatic carriers.
The currency chest of the branch is still functioning to manage cash circulation.
The branch is set to open after 6 days of closure as opposed to the mandatory 14 days required by regulation. This disparity in the number of days can have grave consequences for both the bank staff and the customers.
The state of Gujarat ranks second in the list of highest COVID-19 cases and Vadodara is one of the several districts which have been classified as Red Zones. As of now, no tests have been conducted for other staff members. Not testing other staff members and their families, threatens the containment and mitigation efforts since early stage asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 are more difficult to trace and stifle.
As The Logical Indian received information about the supposed attempt by the bank to hide the matter, we approached the management.
"We have stopped the operation of that particular branch (Mandvi) also. For a precautionary measure we did this. There is not any physical evidence of any symptoms within the staff members. Today only I discussed this with the RM (Regional Manager) and they told me that there is not a single symptom in any of the staff," said Bharat Dangar, Director of Bank of Baroda.
Dangar is also the ex-mayor of Vadodara and ex-President of BJP Vadodara. He disclosed that all other staff members of the branch have been quarantined for seven days. Along with this, he stated that if future conditions require it, further action in terms of testing and shut down may be taken.
Reports have suggested that coronavirus symptoms take approximately 12 days to physically manifest themselves after contact with the virus. Even though the sahayak had not been coming to work since April 24, he might have been an asymptomatic early stage carrier of the disease himself.
The nature of his work included interaction with most of the office staff for routine tasks. This puts all of them and their families at an additional risk for contracting the virus which can not be assessed before at least 12 days of isolation. This is in contradiction to the week-long isolation period prescribed to them.
The lack of testing and the unusually short quarantine periods for them combined with the 6 day bank closure hold potential for spreading the virus even further.
Sachin Verma, Branch Manager of the Mandvi branch stated that the temporary closure was to be noted as "just a preventive measure". Verma has also confirmed that no testing is being carried out for other staff members. The reason being given is that the peon who tested positive had already not been reporting to duty since April 24, overlooking the 12-day symptom-development period.
Upon bringing this to the notice of Vadodara MLA Manisha Vakil, she said that she was unaware of the complete nature of the incident. She stated that under any circumstances, if there is a risk of the infection's possible spread, it is incorrect to prevent testing. "Testing should be done, I can talk to the commissioner about this," said Vakil.
Also Read: Wuhan's L-Type Coronavirus Could Be Behind High Mortality Rate In Gujarat: ExpertsMust Reads
We are an independent and public-spirited digital media platform for Indian millennials. We report news and issues that matter as well as give you the opportunity to take action.
