The Telangana State Secretariat and other state-level government offices will function with 50 per cent of their workforce, it was announced on Saturday as part of the new guidelines to contain the spread of Covid-19 in government offices.
The employees in the state administrative headquarters and other state-level offices will attend the duties on an alternate day basis. The new curbs will come into effect from Monday and will continue till July 4.
The move came in the wake of Covid-19 cases at the Secretariat and other offices during the last few days and a surge in the number of cases across the state.
"In view of the sporadic cases of Covid-19 being reported in the Secretariat and other offices, the guidelines are issued for implementation by all the departments," said an internal circular.
Half of the office subordinates, data entry operators and other Class 4 employees will have to attend duty on every alternate week basis while 50 per cent of the clerical staff/circulating officers have been directed to attend duty on alternate days.
Officers having separate chambers allotted to them have to attend duties regularly.
Any officer or staff having vulnerabilities like pregnancy or comorbidities can stay at home duly, taking appropriate leaves like casual leave, earned leave or half pay leave based on medical certificate.
According to the guidelines, drivers should not assemble at the parking lots, but should sit in their respective offices. This curb was imposed as many drivers are contracting the virus.
The government has also banned the use of air conditioners in the offices as a precautionary measure. All officers have been advised to refrain from using ACs in their respective rooms and ensure adequate ventilation.
The entry of visitors has also been restricted. No visitors will be permitted to enter the office unless there is authorisation by the officer concerned and on prior appointment.
Maximum of three persons in addition to the lift operator will be allowed in the elevator at a time.
The government also directed that regular disinfection of the office premises and vehicles should be ensured.
The employees have been directed to ensure compliance with physical distancing norms at all times, including lunch breaks. They were asked to bring lunch from home and avoid sitting together during lunch hours.
All the infection prevention protocols like regular handwashing/sanitisation, wearing of masks etc. should be strictly adhered to by the staff.
The new curbs will apply only in the offices within Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. The offices dealing with essential services are exempted from the restrictions.
Greater Hyderabad is the worst affected among the 33 districts in the state. The move came a day after the state witnessed the steepest single-day in Covid-19 cases on Friday.
As many as 499 people tested positive for the virus, taking the state's tally to 6,526. Greater Hyderabad alone accounted for 329 of the fresh cases.