BHUBANESWAR: Stepping up its measures to fight Covid-19 in the Capital, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started collecting samples of its own employees. More than 100 samples of BMC employees were collected by health teams at the municipal headquarters in the city on Thursday, while a large number of samples of staff were collected from the office on Friday.
Acting on the direction of the Corporation, Zonal Deputy Commissioners (ZDCs) - North, South-East and South-West zones - have submitted list of employees working in the three jurisdiction for sample collection. “We have already submitted our list and samples of the employees will be collected within this week. Apart from staff at the headquarters, close to 200 BMC employees are working in the three zones,” a city ZDC said.
“As many employees of the civic body are exposed to public on a daily basis, we decided to go for sample testing of all BMC employees who are on the field during this crisis,” said a senior official from the Corporation. With asymptomatic cases remaining a major challenge for any administrative machinery to deal with the situation, sample test is one of the most safest way, the official said. Some staff said in spite of restrictions, some people unknowingly, reach BMC office with their grievance, which also poses risk for the employees.
Apart from regular staff, the civic body has also decided to collect samples of all sanitation workers on the field for Covid-19 test in a phased manner. While 700 workers are employed by BMC on labour roll, around 2,400 sanitation workers have been engaged by three private sanitation agencies. However, sampling will only be done for those who are at present engaged in sanitation work in different wards of the city.