35 railway staff, dependants tested positive in Ranchi so far

RANCHI: A senior officer of the Ranchi railway division of South Eastern Railways (SER) tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday morning, sending the division’s administrative brass into a tizzy.
The infected officer, who hails from the Indian Railways Traffic Service (IRTS), is symptomatic and was placed in home quarantine, the division said. He had last attended office on Friday and met several railway officials, employees from various departments and took part in important meetings.
Avnish Kumar, the senior divisional commercial manager, said, “As per protocol, contact tracing is being done to identify those who came in contact with the infected officer. A sanitization drive of the DRM office complex is also underway.” Sources said the DRM office will remain closed for 48 hours for sanitization.
With the officer getting infected, the number of Covid-19 cases in the division rose to 35. In between May and August, as many as 25 railway police personnel, a few of their family members and two loco pilots have been detected with the deadly virus, medical officers of the division told TOI.
Earlier in between May and July, several railway employees, who were at the forefront of handling the arrival of Shramik special trains, had claimed that they were not provided adequate protective gear and equipment while on duty. As many as 264 Shramik Specials had arrived in Jharkhand from across the country in between May 1 and July 19, ferrying approximately 3.33 lakh migrant workers. Of them, more than 60 arrived at Ranchi and Hatia railway stations, railway officials here said.