The administration of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued a stern warning to the authorities of all offices, both private and Government, in the State capital city to mandatorily ensure that their staff should strictly follow COVID-appropriate behaviour like wearing face masks, maintaining hand hygiene and social distancing during working hours without fail, or else, face closure of the establishments.
‘It has come to our notice that some offices in the State Capital which have resumed their operations and asked their staff to come to their workplaces are not strictly implementing and monitoring the State Government’s COVID guidelines issued for workplaces,’ the BMC noted in a press release.
Hence, to avoid any further spike in Covid cases and to avert the possible third wave, BMC Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar Singh has urged the authorities of all offices and organizations in the city to be cautious and watchful as the virus cases are still getting reported in the city.
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“It will be very important to ensure compliance of the guidelines and to strictly enforce COVID-appropriate behaviour, such as wearing masks and hygiene and social distancing by the employees of every organization during the working hours,” Singh stated in a circular issued to all offices.
Notably, as part of its plan to relax lockdown norms in a graded manner, the Odisha government has asked all of its departments and subordinate offices to function with the full strength of employees from Monday.
From Monday, the Enforcement team of BMC along with police will make surprise visits to workplaces in the city to check whether COVID-appropriate behavior is followed or not within the premises. If any organization is found violating the guidelines, stringent action will be taken as per the provisions of Section 2 (1) of the Epidemic Disease Act.
If any offices or organizations are found flouting the norms repeatedly, BMC may even seal those organizations for an indefinite period.