More than 400 staff members of the Parliament were tested positive for coronavirus just ahead of the Budget Session of the Parliament, informed the official sources.
The officials told ANI that 402 staff members were tested positive for COVID-19 out of the 1,409 staff of Parliament for the virus from January 4 to 8 after which their samples were sent for genome sequencing to confirm the variant.
“Close to 402 staffs were tested positive for COVID-19 from January 4-8 and all samples have been sent to genome sequencing for Omicron variant confirmation,” an official told ANI.
The staffs are advised to follow all the necessary precautions according to the guidelines of the government, informed by an internal message from the staff of Parliament.
“There is a consolidated list of 200 Lok Sabha and 69 from Rajya Sabha and 133 allied staff who have tested positive, but we all need to take proper precautions,” an internal message read.
However, this list does not contain those who were tested for coronavirus outside the Parliament buildings.
Many employees of both the Houses of the Parliament were put in quarantine after they came into contact with their infected colleagues during work. However, other officials of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are also in isolation.
A recent order by the DDMA directed all government offices to run under 50 per cent of staff capacity and the rest will work from home. Taking the new variant of COVID-19, Omicron seriously, the Central government also exempted its staff from biometric (daily punching) for attendance.