NEW DELHI: There is panic in the Food, Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FS&CA) department after reports emerged of a West Delhi circle Food Supply Inspector’s (FSI) family member testing positive for COVID-19. The family member died on Friday and the FSI’s residential is one of the containment zones in the city.
According to officials privy to the development, the FSI was in touch with several individuals and senior officers including assistant commissioners and had visited 13 schools, 41 fair price shops (FPSs) and two private stores.
After his colleagues flagged their concerns, the special commissioner of the department YVVJ Rajasekhar has advised all his ‘first contacts’ including senior officials to go for mandatory quarantine and testing. “A couple of worried Food Supply Officers (FSOs), who were regularly meeting and interacting with the said FSI, wrote to the department seeking clarification about measures to be taken after encounter with him. They were apprehensive that they might contract the virus,” said a government official.
Rajasekhar has also sent an advisory to education department and MCD requesting them to ask their staff — who are first and second contacts of the FSI — to go into isolation immediately. The note further asked all officials to share their testing result and update the status on ‘arogya Setu mobile application.
“The food and supply department had advised that all the first contacts shall go for mandatory quarantine. FSO and FSI to go for testing and inform the result. The assistant commissioners, who interacted with them, shall also go for quarantine and testing. All who interacted directly with FSI shall be quarantined. FSI who interacted with school teachers shall draw the list of school that interacted with him immediately. Further, it has also been advised that all above shall mandatorily upgrade and revise their status of Aarogay Setu App,” said the note signed by Rajasekhar.
Dharmendra Kumar, additional district magistrate (west) said that ‘contact tracing’ had begun.“Samples for testing of his contacts, including seven relatives and two neighbours, were taken on Friday. All of them are in quarantine and more of his contacts are being traced,” he said.
The official, on the condition of anonymity, said the FSI had met the food and civil supplies minister Imran Hussain too. Despite repeated attempts,Hussain couldn’t be reached for a comment.